Untitled (portrait of boy and girl in suit and dress holding hands) c. 1940

This image of a boy and girl holding hands was made by Paul Gittings. It’s ghostly, isn’t it? This photograph negative shows the world inverted, like looking at an alien landscape, or maybe a half-remembered dream. Looking at the original photograph, I imagine the process of carefully layering chemicals, light, and time. Here, in this negative, the world is reversed. What was once luminous is now dark, and shadows become beacons. The children's eyes glow, piercing the darkness, and even though their faces are blank, there’s a connection, a touch. The image’s texture feels almost painterly, like a dark charcoal drawing where only the bright areas are revealed. I find myself thinking of artists like Lisette Model who found the extraordinary in the everyday. In this image, the inversion makes me reconsider the nature of relationships, reminding me that art is less about answers, and more about sparking new questions.