Untitled (little girl on her first birthday with open and wrapped presents, feather in hair) c. 1955

Paul Gittings made this photograph on an unspecified date; it is a small, ghostly image of a little girl's first birthday. The scene has been captured in negative, so instead of being bathed in warm light, this birthday is a study in pale shades. I am drawn to the doll in the photograph; it is propped up in a small chair, casually holding a toy trumpet, and seems poised to make a joyful noise, a kind of celebration in miniature. Dolls are often treated as passive objects, but here, this one seems to be taking charge. And the single feather in her hair makes her look so festive. This image is an artifact of time, both playful and poignant, reminding me of similar work by outsider artists like Henry Darger, who also used found images to construct complex, personal narratives. It is a reminder that art can be found in the everyday, and that even the simplest image can hold layers of meaning.