"Bess" c. 1900 - 1910

This photograph, simply titled "Bess," by an anonymous photographer, captures a moment suspended in time. Imagine the photographer, framing the shot, trying to capture something essential about this small human. The soft, diffused light, the textures of the fabric, the garden background, and the open-mouthed expression of the baby, they all conspire to create an image that feels both intimate and universal. You can almost feel the weight of the camera, the concentration needed to freeze that fleeting second, and the desire to fix this vision, against time. I wonder what the photographer was thinking as they snapped the picture, maybe something about the miracle of new life, or the daunting responsibility of raising a child? The image invites us to consider our own place in the chain of generations. Like painters, photographers build on each other’s work across time, borrowing and inventing new ways of seeing.