Untitled c. 1930s

Wayne Albee made this photograph sometime in the early twentieth century. What gets me is the way he plays with light, kind of like a painter would with a limited palette of grays and browns. The texture of the image is soft, almost dreamlike. It feels like Albee wasn't after sharp details but something more about mood. See how the light gently falls across the woman’s face? It’s like he's sculpting her features with light itself, softening the edges of her face, her neck. The shadow that drapes around her is almost as present as she is. Albee's piece reminds me a little of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, another photographer who wasn't afraid to let things be a little blurry. Ultimately, art is a conversation across time, a way of seeing and feeling that evolves with each new voice.