Untitled [Girl Lying on a Bed] 1972 - 1976

Joan Cassis made this untitled photograph of a girl lying on a bed sometime before 1996. It has a ghostly feeling, doesn’t it? The grey tones are smudgy and soft, and the girl is blurred and indistinct. I find myself drawn to the bed frame, which seems old and worn, with chipped paint and a slightly rusty texture. There's a kind of beauty in the imperfection. It makes me think of the passage of time and the way things change. The window behind the bed is covered with a sheer curtain, letting in a soft light that seems to diffuse the whole scene. It's like everything is slightly out of focus, which adds to the dreamlike quality of the image. This photograph reminds me a little of Francesca Woodman's work, who also explored themes of identity and the body in her photography. Like Woodman, Cassis embraces ambiguity, leaving us with more questions than answers.