Untitled (little girl standing on table by three-tiered first birthday cake with parents at her side) c. 1955

This black and white photograph of a little girl and her parents, celebrating a first birthday with cake, was made by Paul Gittings. Photographs like this walk a line between being about the image, and the process. It’s difficult to ascertain when the image was taken, the photo itself looks older, but that could be due to the degradation of the negative. But something about that almost gothic contrast makes me think about Weegee; his unflinching flash photos, where the subjects are caught in the act of living. I’m also thinking about the surface here. The stark tonal range makes the figures seem superimposed against the backdrop, and the cake looks almost velvety. In a way, you can imagine the frosting like impasto in a painting. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I think Gittings is asking us to consider the formal qualities of photography, just as much as he's documenting a family event. It’s not just a snapshot; it’s a composition.