Untitled (mother and father with two sons, mother seated on high backed chair) after 1940

Paul Gittings made this black and white photograph of a family with two sons sometime in the twentieth century. I like to imagine the moment the photographer captured them: a slice of life, an imagined narrative, a document, a performance. The family poses stiffly, dressed in their best clothes, maybe a little nervous, but wanting to present a good image. What was it like to be Paul Gittings? What was he thinking, working, and what did he hope to achieve when making the picture? Was he aiming for truth? Authenticity? Photography is a way of seeing, of thinking, of experiencing the world. It’s about freezing a moment in time, but also about creating something new. Every click is a way of thinking about seeing, isn’t it? Every snap another opportunity to engage and be inspired. That’s what art is all about.