Quince Años (Fifteenth Birthday) Possibly 1985 - 1990

Graciela Iturbide made this gelatin silver print, Quince Años, with light and shadow doing all the talking. It’s interesting to think about the material contrast here, the silky, frilly dress of the young woman in the doorway, compared to the worn, patterned fabric of the older woman’s clothes. The light is so sensitive, it creates a sort of texture – a rubbing, a holding – that makes you feel like you could reach out and touch the photograph. Look at the barefoot of the older woman, how it grounds the photograph. She sits in the corner of the image with the young woman standing in a doorway. I like the way that they both share the space equally, their narratives intertwined. Like Helen van Meene, Iturbide’s photographic portraits are full of contradictions, where we are invited to explore all the different meanings together.