Untitled c. 1945

This untitled image was captured by Jeanne Ebstel, though we don't know exactly when. I can almost feel the light on the street and the cool composure of the subject. It looks like a still from a movie, and the woman is walking across the street with a taxi in the background. There’s something so classic and stylish, but there’s also something lonely in her face. What was the photographer thinking? What was she trying to capture about this figure? The photographer is freezing a moment, an idea, a feeling. It’s not just about how it looks, it’s about the gesture – the way she’s striding, the cut of her coat, and the way it communicates a certain je ne sais quoi. This picture continues a long conversation among artists, trying to capture something about what it means to be human. There's no single way to understand it.