Hampden Neighborhood, Baltimore, Maryland c. 1972 - 1976

Joan Cassis made this photograph in Maryland, of a young girl, caught in a moment of waiting, or perhaps contemplation. I wonder about Joan. What was she thinking when she took this picture? It feels intimate, like a stolen glance, doesn't it? The grayscale tones emphasize the grit of the everyday, like a rough charcoal drawing. Look at the texture of the walls! Cassis has captured the way light plays on peeling paint, the kind of details that tell a story all their own. Her work reminds me a little of Diane Arbus, that same unflinching gaze. It's like they’re both asking us to really see the people we might otherwise overlook. Cassis makes you feel the quiet dignity and resilience of this girl in her ordinary world. That gesture of clasped hands could be read as a metaphor for inner strength and calm, and the longer you look, the more layers you discover.