Self-Portrait, Montevideo after 1942

Jeanne Mandello made this self-portrait in Montevideo, but the date is unknown. What strikes me is the way she sets up the shot so that light and shadow cut across her face like a Cubist painting. It's so graphic, right? Like a deconstructed portrait that’s reassembling itself before your eyes. The palm fronds create a series of strong, diagonal lines, and the way they slice through her face is really interesting. It’s almost violent, yet there’s a softness in the shadows, a gentleness in her gaze. It reminds me a bit of Man Ray, the way he used light and dark to abstract and transform the human form. The textures, too, are amazing. The smooth skin, the rough glove, the feathery palm leaves, all rendered in shades of gray. And that glove – what’s that about? Is she ready to work, or is it a shield? I find myself thinking about what we choose to reveal and conceal, and how photography can capture those ambiguities.