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

Vera Lutter made this photograph, Dancers: October 29-31, 2014, using a camera obscura. The whole thing is in reverse, like a photographic negative. I love the way the artist documents the museum display as if she’s responding to the dancers in their vitrines. It's so interesting to think about an artist making a photograph of a room full of art and other objects. I wonder what Vera Lutter was thinking when she made this work? I imagine she wanted to capture the passage of time, and to evoke a sense of mystery and melancholy. It has a luminous quality. And it's haunting, in a way that makes you think about the history of photography, and how we use images to remember and to forget. Ultimately, this image reminds me of the way artists are always in conversation with each other, across time and space. It's like Vera Lutter is dancing with Degas, and we're all invited to join in.