Untitled (woman in traditional dress with a white veil) c. 1880

Editor: This photograph by G. Lékégian, entitled "Untitled (woman in traditional dress with a white veil)", immediately strikes me as mysterious. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The veil, of course, is the central image. Veils signify so much: mourning, marriage, concealment. But also, consider the crown-like structure beneath it. Editor: Is it meant to evoke royalty, then? Curator: Perhaps. Or perhaps it is simply a cultural marker, a signal of belonging. What does the veil hide, and what does it reveal about this woman's identity? Editor: That's a great question. It makes me think about how clothes create identity. Curator: Precisely. And how those identities carry cultural memory. It’s far more layered than I first expected.