Untitled (woman in patterned dress and veiled hat holding gloves and pocketbook, seated and leaning back on right elbow) after 1940

This photographic print of a woman in patterned dress with hat, gloves, and bag was made by Paul Gittings. I find the contrasting textures fascinating - from the soft fabric of her dress, delicately patterned, to the crisp, geometric lines of the box she leans on. The interplay between light and shadow almost gives it a painterly quality. It reminds me of working with oil paint, how you build up layers, finding depth in the contrast between matte and gloss. Look closely at her expression. There's a hint of a smile, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. What is she thinking? What's her story? It's like a half-formed thought, an open-ended question. I love that ambiguity. This work evokes other photographers like Diane Arbus who worked in a similar vein, capturing these idiosyncratic portraits of mid-century women. Art, at its best, is a conversation, a dialogue across time.