Untitled (three siblings posed between road and brick wall) c. 1940

Paul Gittings created this untitled photograph of three siblings posed between a road and a brick wall. The cracked emulsion gives the photograph a ghostly quality, almost as if we are looking at figures from the past, trapped in a time capsule. The children's matching striped shirts suggest a deliberate construction of identity. Are these clothes a signifier of middle-class aspirations, or perhaps an attempt to create a unified family image? The brick wall in the background could symbolize the barriers and boundaries within which these identities are formed. The photograph raises questions about how we construct identity through visual cues and the social expectations imposed upon us. The expressions on the children's faces add a layer of complexity. There is a sense of unease, as if they are caught between performance and authenticity. Do they feel confined or protected by the domestic space that frames them?