Untitled (woman posing in dance costume) after 1940

This silver gelatin print of a woman in a dance costume was made by Paul Gittings. It’s fascinating to see how Gittings uses light and shadow here, not just to capture an image, but to create a mood, almost like painting with light. The soft gradations of grey and the way the light catches the dancer’s silk sari—it’s all so carefully considered. Look at the way the shadows pool around her feet, anchoring her to the ground, while the rest of her seems to float. This contrast really brings the image to life. Her hands, adorned with bracelets, seem to gesture towards something beyond the frame. It’s almost as if she's inviting us into her world, one of movement and rhythm. The work reminds me of the photography of someone like Imogen Cunningham, where the subject is both present and slightly abstracted, existing in a space between reality and dream. What do you think?