Untitled (woman in black dress with decorative white collar seen from back at base of staircase) after 1940

This photographic print captures a woman in a black dress with a decorative white collar at the base of a staircase. Looking at this image, I find myself wondering what it might have been like to be Paul Gittings, setting up the shot, waiting for the right light, maybe directing the model this way and that. What was he looking for, and what was she thinking? There’s a kind of timelessness to the image, with its monochrome palette and classic composition. The contrast between the dark dress and the bright white collar creates a focal point, framing the subject. Her pose, the way she's holding the handrail, it all suggests a story, a narrative unfolding just beyond the edges of the frame. It’s interesting how one artist’s work can spark ideas in another, how we’re all in conversation across time and space. Making art is all about exchange, a continuous give-and-take.