Untitled (photograph of "Jaunty Chapeau": woman in assymetrical hat) c. 1940

This small, square, black and white photograph of a woman in a hat, by Paul Gittings, feels both intimate and a bit mysterious. Look at the negative space around the central image – the way the film strip itself becomes part of the composition. It reminds me of the way a painter might leave parts of the canvas bare, letting the ground contribute to the final piece. There’s a kind of raw honesty in showing the process, isn't it? And the woman, with her severe profile and that wonderfully absurd hat! It’s so angular and asymmetrical, defying any sense of conventional beauty. It’s the kind of bold gesture that makes you stop and wonder – what was she thinking? What was Gittings thinking? It’s like a tiny Dadaist manifesto, a playful jab at the establishment. It brings to mind some of the early modernist photographers like Man Ray, who were similarly pushing the boundaries of portraiture.