Vision in a Brick Wall, Number One by Clarence John Laughlin (1941)

The photograph titled “Vision in a Brick Wall, Number One,” created by artist Clarence John Laughlin in 1941, is a black-and-white image that seems to blend reality with elements of the surreal. It depicts a weathered brick wall of what looks to be an old building. There is a clear contrast in the brick patterns due to repairs made over time. On the right side of the photograph, there is a dark wooden door that’s slightly ajar, adding an element of mystery to the image.

The most striking element is the ghostly apparition of a figure adorned with a translucent veil, standing before the wall. The figure appears to be in the process of either emerging from or melding into the wall, lending an ethereal quality to the photograph. The transparency of the figure’s shroud and the way it interacts with the solid brick textures around it play with the viewer’s sense of perception, inviting contemplation of the borders between the visible and the invisible, the physical and the spectral. The photograph artfully captures a moment that is both haunting and poetic, embodying a sense of timelessness that transcends the era in which it was taken.

Other Photographs from Clarence John Laughlin

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