Untitled #21 (from the Override series) 1997

Anna Gaskell made this photograph, Untitled #21, part of the Override series. It’s a trip, right? The image looks like it’s been folded, crumpled, and then smoothed out again. There's something unsettling, a quiet disruption, in the almost clinical lens through which Gaskell captures her subjects. It's like she's dissecting a dream. It's not about perfection but about the process of seeing and questioning. Look at the girl in the middle ground, standing, so casually normal, while another is prone, almost sacrificed. The image is a strange juxtaposition of innocence and something darker. The tights in the foreground are like a barrier, or is it a frame? The legs are huge, almost monumental, in comparison to the figures. It reminds me of Hans Bellmer, who also used dolls to strange effect, creating images that are both alluring and deeply disturbing. But who knows, maybe it's just a picture of some kids playing in the woods.