Untitled (portrait of girl with ringlets in dress, seated, holding carnation) c. 1955

Paul Gittings took this photograph of a girl holding a carnation, sometime in the twentieth century. In this formal portrait, we see the sitter is adorned with ringlets, a lacy dress, jewelry, and a bow. These affectations speak to the performance of class identity. Who were Gittings's patrons? In what circles was he working? Photography played a role in solidifying elite class status and in the reproduction of social hierarchy. This photograph is a document of social and cultural expectations, but what would it tell us when placed alongside other images? Does it reinforce, challenge, or complicate any assumptions? These are the kinds of questions that the social art historian considers. By using historical documents, institutional records, and other primary source material, we can see photography as a powerful agent in the history of social representation.