Untitled (portrait of young woman with chin on hand) c. 1940

This small, undated photographic portrait by Paul Gittings captures a young woman with her chin resting on her hand. The inverted tones give it an otherworldly feel. The image is a study in contrasts, light and dark, soft focus and sharp edges. It’s about surface, the way light falls on the skin, the subtle gradations of tone. The details emerge slowly, as if pieced together from fragments of memory. I love how the graininess of the image, normally something to avoid, becomes part of the image, adding texture and depth. It reminds me that every image is a negotiation between intention and accident. Looking at this, I’m reminded of artists like Gerhard Richter, who embrace the blur and imperfection as a way of revealing the process of seeing. It’s this openness to chance, this willingness to let the medium speak, that makes the work so compelling. It invites us to look closer, to question our assumptions, and to embrace the beauty of ambiguity.