Untitled (smiling boy in cowboy boots turned with hand on back of chair) after 1940

This black and white photograph of a smiling boy in cowboy boots was made by Paul Gittings. Gittings was known in America for photographing high society families. The boy is dressed in a smart leather jacket and cowboy boots, perhaps indicating he is from Texas or another state where this clothing is worn. The chair he is holding is a prop, perhaps a deliberately old-fashioned one. These visual cues suggest a certain level of wealth and social status. Gittings’s portraits became associated with conservative values and the American dream, but they also played a role in shaping the visual culture of the time, and what was considered to be a ‘good’ or ‘successful’ family. To understand the significance of Gittings’s work, we might look to archives of fashion, media, and family photography to gain a better sense of its cultural impact. The meanings we find in art are so often dependent on the social context in which it’s made.