Adele Boke, Sacramento, California 1951

This is Dorothea Lange’s photograph, Adele Boke, Sacramento, California, a silver gelatin print. It's a study of hair, I think. The braids remind me of ropes, they sit like concentric circles on top of Adele's head, like a crown, but more like an ancient mariner’s knot. It almost has the feel of abstract sculpture. My eye is drawn to the center of the braid where the light catches, and the hair gleams. What interests me most is what is concealed. I imagine a faceless person bent forward, the identity of Adele obscured. It's a departure from Lange's other works, where the eyes of her subjects are central to the narrative. Usually, her work documents the social conditions of the time, but here, the focus is on the form. Like the work of Imogen Cunningham who also explored shape, texture and form in unconventional ways, Lange leaves us with an image that embraces ambiguity.