Girl and Child, Toluca Possibly 1933 - 1967

Paul Strand made this photograph of a girl and child in Toluca, using light and shadow to create a study in contrasts. Look at the way he captures the girl's gaze. It's direct, unflinching, meeting ours head-on. I find myself drawn to the rough texture of the wall behind them, flaking away to reveal the stones beneath. There's a parallel between the weathered wall and the weight of responsibility in the girl's eyes. See the way the stripes of her shawl seem to curve around the child she holds, an almost sculptural form against the flat plane of the wall. It’s a tender embrace, rendered with such stark clarity. Strand was part of the Photo-Secession movement, which thought photography could be as expressive and artful as painting. You can see that ambition in the way he composes this image, finding beauty and dignity in the everyday. Like the paintings of Alice Neel, Strand finds an emotional truth in portraiture, and both artists find a way of seeing that feels deeply human.