Untitled (older woman in dress with ruffled collar seated in wooden chair holding magazine) after 1940

This photographic print by Paul Gittings captures an older woman in a formal dress, seated in a wooden chair. The image's monochrome palette throws the textures of the scene into sharp relief. Consider the range of skilled practices involved in its production. Of course, there’s the photographer's art, his eye for composition and light. But what about the dressmaker who tailored the woman's garment, or the carpenter who crafted the chair? The lace collar, the magazine in her hands, and the vase of flowers all speak to the world of domestic craft and design. Photography itself, though now commonplace, was once a highly specialized and technical process. Gittings, in capturing this portrait, was participating in a complex social ritual, one that relied on both artistic skill and industrial production. By considering all of these elements, we can appreciate how the photograph exists at the intersection of art, craft, and the everyday.