Quince Años (Fifteenth Birthday) Possibly 1985 - 1990

This photograph, "Quince Años," was taken by Graciela Iturbide, an artist born in Mexico in 1942. In this black and white image, two women are captured inside what looks like a modest room. Iturbide seems to be so sensitive to the cultural moment and its attendant feelings. I imagine her, camera in hand, stepping into this scene, the air thick with unspoken stories. What was it like to be there, in that room? What was it like to decide the frame? To choose when to click. On the left, a young woman stands in a frilly white dress, marking her fifteenth birthday. Beside her, an older woman sits, her gaze suggesting a life lived. I wonder what it might have been like for Iturbide to see these two subjects, their lives intertwined yet separate, a dialogue between youth and age. Iturbide's photograph really speaks to me. There is a history of image-making present, an ongoing conversation between the artist and her subjects. It reminds me that artists embrace ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.