Edgar Degas, Dancers: October 29-31, 2014 2014

Vera Lutter made this camera obscura photograph, Edgar Degas, Dancers: October 29-31, 2014, using light itself as the primary material, recording a scene over a prolonged period. The inverted tones and ghostly apparitions evoke a world seen through a veil, or perhaps a memory fading with time. The photograph captures a display of Degas’ dancer sculptures. Look at how the light pools and bleeds around the edges of each sculpture, softening their forms, and giving them an ethereal presence. There’s a beautiful tension between the solidity of the sculptures and the ephemeral nature of the photographic process. Lutter's work reminds me of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs of movie screens, where the entire film is compressed into a single, luminous exposure. Both artists invite us to contemplate time, perception, and the way images can both reveal and conceal. It's a reminder that art is not just about what we see, but how we see, and what we bring to the act of looking.