Untitled (seven boys in suits holding books and staffs) c. 1950

This small photographic print of seven boys in suits holding books and staffs was made by Paul Gittings. The picture is black and white so it must have been taken a while ago. I can almost feel what it was like to hold that camera, squinting to find the right light, and thinking, how can I capture these boys? How can I show them in their element? It’s almost like a mirror, a reversed image of myself. Photography is a conversation, much like painting. It’s a physical thing, a process. The light, the chemical reaction, the paper – all become part of the final piece. But it’s also about something else, something beyond the surface. There’s a certain ambiguity, a sense that things aren’t quite what they seem. Artists don’t work in a vacuum. We respond to each other, steal from each other, and build upon each other's ideas.