Untitled (photographer and cameras setting up pose with bride and groom) c. 1940

This photograph by Paul Gittings captures a photographer arranging a bride and groom for their wedding portrait. The image is like a backstage pass to a moment of constructed reality. What I love is how Gittings pulls back the curtain, showing us the tools and labor behind the illusion. Look at the array of equipment: the large format camera, the flash stand, and the various assistants hovering around. It's a reminder that even the most seemingly spontaneous images are often the result of careful planning and execution. The negative’s tonality also really throws me! I usually think of photography as capturing the real, but here, Gittings captures artifice, not just in the setup of the shot, but in the photographic process itself. This reminds me of Jeff Wall's staged photographs, which similarly blur the line between documentary and fiction. Ultimately, this photograph encourages us to think about the nature of representation and the ways in which images shape our understanding of the world.