Fritzi Massary 1916

This is Fritzi Massary, a gelatin silver print by Nicola Perscheid. Look at the way her dress is captured, the way it’s caught mid-swirl, like a moment snatched right out of time. The material almost floats off the surface of the print, that lacy trim around the edges, the way light glints off the embellishments. It feels really tactile, doesn't it? You can almost feel the weight of it, see the way it catches the light. The contrast between light and dark is delicious, it's all surface, all detail. I keep coming back to that flower on her chest, almost as though she has been branded by beauty, by that moment. This isn't so far away from what Man Ray was doing at the time, the way he was using light and shadow to create these surreal effects. They're both playing with this idea of reality versus illusion.