Photograph 1910

This is a photograph by Thomas Eakins, and what strikes me first is how Eakins uses light, or rather, the varying shades of grey, as a way of sculpting the figure of the young woman. The picture plane is like a process, a negotiation between light and shadow. I keep coming back to her dress, how it drapes and folds. It’s not just fabric; it's almost as if the dress is another character in the scene, caught in its own dance of light and form. It reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter's blurred photographs- paintings, where the subject is both present and dissolving. Maybe it's the grainy texture of the photograph, but the whole image feels like a memory, something fleeting and fragile. Like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers.