Untitled (two women with young girl holding doll standing on veranda by column) after 1940

Paul Gittings made this black and white photograph of two women and a child with a doll, sometime in the 20th century. The setting, with its imposing columns and lush foliage, suggests a family of means, at leisure. Consider the gaze, here, for a moment. The women, standing tall, look directly at the camera, seemingly self-possessed. The child, gripping her doll, is caught in the liminal space between girlhood and the world of adults. The doll she holds becomes a symbol of identity and the expectations of motherhood in the middle of the 20th century. The photograph raises questions about what it means to be seen, and who has the power to represent whom. By looking at how Gittings positions these figures, we can consider the ways in which gender, class, and the performance of identity intersect within the intimate space of the family.