Untitled (woman in long formal dress seated with two children in living room armchair) c. 1940

This photograph, by Paul Gittings, shows a woman with two children in a domestic setting, made through the traditional chemical process of film photography. The work's material directly influences its appearance. The stark contrast and tonal range inherent in black and white film captures a sense of formality and timelessness. It’s not just a snapshot, but a staged portrait, likely commissioned. Consider the material culture on display: the well-stocked bookshelf, the fashionable dress, the carefully arranged flowers. All speak to a certain level of affluence and cultivated taste. Photography, by its nature, is tied to wider social issues of representation, labor, and consumption. While the sitters here are the subject, the photographer's skill and equipment are equally essential to the image. The amount of work involved, from staging the shot to developing the negative, speaks to the value placed on portraiture as a marker of social status. By considering the materials, the making, and the context, we can understand the full meaning of the image, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and everyday life.