Woman, Patzcuaro Possibly 1933 - 1967

Paul Strand made this photograph, Woman, Patzcuaro, using gelatin silver. This woman's stare is so direct, so composed, that it makes you wonder, what’s she looking at, or rather, what is she seeing? She is carrying something; a basket is at the front and the lines are so clear and crisp you can almost feel the texture of the reeds. What was it like to be Strand, framing this shot, asking her to pose? And what was it like to be her, standing there, holding her basket? It’s not a painting, but the tones, the play of light and dark, lend it a painterly quality. Strand is like a visual anthropologist, capturing a moment in time, a face, a life, rendered with such starkness. Painters are always looking at photographs, just as photographers are looking at painting – artists are always looking at each other!