Photograph 1910

This is a photograph, by Thomas Eakins. We don't know exactly when it was made. It’s interesting to think about the way photography captures a moment, the way that Eakins has chosen this exact composition with the woman and her dog. The way that the camera has recorded the varying textures - the ruffles on the dress, the fur of the dog. There’s such an intimacy here in how the woman holds the dog. Look at the dark shadows under her brow, suggesting a bright day, and how this contrasts with the light of her dress. The longer you look the more subtle tonalities you find in the grayscale. It’s a reminder that everything we see is constructed, that the artist has chosen what to show us. Just like in painting, there’s a conversation between the subject, the artist and the medium. It makes me think about how Manet was able to bring photography into painting, and vice versa, and how these new ways of seeing changed art forever.