Untitled (fashion portrait of woman wearing skirt and pea coat with fur collar) c. 1961 - 1962

Editor: So, this is an untitled fashion portrait by Martin Schweig. It's a silver gelatin print of a woman in a smart skirt and pea coat, looking rather pleased with herself. It's like a ghostly image, all reversed out like this. How do you see this piece working as a fashion photograph, given its odd tonality? Curator: It's peculiar, isn't it? The inverted tones give it a surreal, almost dreamlike quality, unsettling the usual polish of fashion photography. It invites a second look, doesn't it? Fashion usually wants to sell us something, but here, what's being sold? Is it confidence? Or something more elusive? Editor: I see what you mean! It's less about the clothes themselves and more about an attitude, a feeling. Curator: Exactly. Perhaps the photographer was more interested in capturing a mood, a fleeting moment of self-assuredness. Editor: That's fascinating! It makes me see fashion photography in a completely new light. Curator: Me too! It’s like the photo is inviting us to think deeper about how we present ourselves.