Edna R. Weissman 1977

This is a portrait of Edna R. Weissman by Andy Warhol, and it's a polaroid, so the image is direct and immediate. The colors are soft, like a faded memory, the focus is sharp but also soft, like she’s here and gone all at once. Looking closely, you see how Warhol uses the camera's flash to flatten the image. The light is even, without a lot of shadow, creating a kind of mask-like effect. The background is a simple, almost peach, color that makes Edna's features pop but also isolates her. Her eyes, a light blue, are striking against the warmer tones of her skin and hair. There's a slight blur to the image, a kind of ethereal quality, making her seem almost like a ghost. Warhol was obsessed with fame, image, and repetition, and you can see how this portrait fits right into that fascination. I think of other artists who use photography to capture the fleeting nature of identity like Gerhard Richter or Elizabeth Peyton. Warhol shows us the surface, but hints at something deeper, a vulnerability that’s both present and just out of reach.