A Gitana - Granada 1914

James Craig Annan made this image of a woman, a Gitana, in Granada, using a camera and printing it as a photogravure. The tones are wonderfully sepia, warm like the sun on stone. I imagine Annan, squinting through the lens. It is a hot day. He is trying to capture something essential about this woman. Maybe he feels like an intruder, or maybe he feels simpatico; whatever it is, he is trying to say something. The way she is looking straight at the camera, there is a sense of pride, of self-possession. The darks are rich, pulling you in, while the lighter areas glow. She is selling or maybe just carrying a basket and package, on her way to somewhere, in her life. Maybe she reminds him of someone. We're all in conversation, artists over time, trying to figure things out. There is something about the exchange of ideas and ways of seeing. This photo feels so full of that human exchange.