Untitled (Woman standing in front of record store) c. 1950s

This photograph, captured by an anonymous artist, probably with a humble camera, frames a woman standing before a record store window. The monochrome adds to the vintage feel. I wonder what she was thinking about as she was captured here, what sounds and rhythms swirled around her mind. You know? The poster of Sinatra looms large, a small hour perhaps resonating with the artist's own feelings. The woman clutches a white bag, her expression enigmatic, almost as if she is caught between realities. The instruments painted on the glass—trumpet, piano, violin—seem to float, almost like musical notes transcribed mid-air. Was the artist hoping to convey a world in motion? There is something so poignant about the quiet stillness of the woman and the energetic graphics. I think of other artists who play with these ideas, like David Hockney and his Polaroids. All artists, in their own way, make the invisible visible.