Untitled
c. 1930-50s
A small gelatin silver print that captures an anonymous ship's officer peering out along a vessel's rail, using reflection and tight cropping to freeze a fleeting moment at sea.
The eye is held by a strong diagonal—cabin edge and deck—while the officer's half‑face appears as a reflection in the window against a churned, luminous sea, making the picture feel simultaneously intimate and in motion.
This anonymous mid‑20th‑century snapshot shows how everyday photographers adopted modernist pictorial devices—reflection, acute cropping, and off‑center composition—to turn ordinary, transient moments into striking photographic statements.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
3 9/16 × 2 1/2" (9 × 6.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Peter J. Cohen
Accession
720.2010
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
