Untitled (group of debutantes) c. 1966

Here's Robert Burian's photograph, "Untitled (group of debutantes)". I don't know exactly when it was made, or with what kind of camera, but I'm drawn to how it plays with tone and the almost aggressive anonymity of the figures. The high-contrast negative look gives the image a stark, almost unsettling quality. It's hard to discern details, and the faces become these ghostly masks, all lined up. The repetition of figures in near-identical gowns creates a kind of visual rhythm but is broken up by the diagonal lines of the staircase and the organic shapes of the plants in the background. There’s a tension between the rigid formality of the debutantes and the unruly, almost chaotic energy of the negative. That little arrow in the bottom corner of the print is like a reminder of the messy, material process behind even the most seemingly polished image. It makes me think of Diane Arbus, maybe, but also the work of Andy Warhol, with its serial imagery and fascination with celebrity and artifice. Ultimately, though, the photograph remains stubbornly ambiguous, resisting any easy interpretation.