Fanny krijgt hoofdmassage en laat haar nagels lakken Possibly 1949

This small black and white photo, made by an anonymous artist, captures a scene of mid-century beauty treatments. I imagine the artist wanting to document a moment of leisure, or maybe commenting on the rituals of femininity at the time. The composition is tight, focusing on the interactions between the women—one receiving a head massage, another having her nails done. You can almost feel the cool, focused intention of the manicurist and the care of the beautician as she massages the client’s scalp. It's like looking at a candid snapshot. What was the artist thinking as they decided when to click the shutter? Did they anticipate that decades later we’d be here, thinking about this captured moment and the stories it tells? I like to think of it as an artist from the past having a conversation with us.