Untitled 1945

This untitled photograph was made by Clarence John Laughlin sometime in the twentieth century. Look at the contrast, the way the shell mask pops against the dark drapery. The composition feels intentional and yet it seems very much like a result of the circumstances Laughlin found himself in. The photo is an orchestration of tone and texture, and it’s clear that for Laughlin, photography wasn’t just about recording; it was about constructing realities. The eye is drawn to the shell. It has a matte finish, which distinguishes it from the glossier textures in the skirt and the wall. The shell seems to float as if the figure's body and identity are being subsumed by this object, this mask. I wonder if the image is a metaphor for the layers of identity and history, the way one thing obscures another, but also provides a kind of structure, a way of seeing. Laughlin reminds me of Eugène Atget, in that both artists seem to have been attempting to preserve something of the past through their images. Both Atget and Laughlin invite us to consider art as an ongoing dialogue with the past and with each other.