This is from a collection of old found photographs my wife and I have attained throughout the years. There is a great book by John Berger called “About Looking”, that describes perfectly why we should look, view, study the way people dressed in formal ware. So he says:
“Despite the portentousness, it is not even necessary to make the experiment of blocking out the faces. It is clear that here the suits actually confirm and enhance the physical presence of those wearing them. The clothes convey the same message as the faces and as the history of the bodies they hide.”
In this image I see a woman dressed in formal black, her pose stoic and calm. Why does she dress this way? She looks plain in her attire, not a part of the upper class. She is something more tangible to me, a person most of us can relate to, see something to connect with in. The reason I added the color to the horse is to explain the magic, the dreams that she hold. Maybe she will shed those clothes and become something, someone different. Maybe the horse can take her there. With the magic of the found photo, we will never know the story. It is featured as a full color photo lithography print and held by my wife Kelly.