A picture of Simone de Beauvoir.
It is almost n Androgenos picture of her. Her hair cut is very short, almost that of a man’s. Her jacket is manly, her makeup is very minimal.
Her facial expression is brave, straight to the point, looking as from a distance, uninvolved, completely neutral, almost as if she is not there. Enigmatic. Women, were not used to pose for the camera this way; not trying to look nice.
But the main players here are her hands, very curious they are… one hand holding the other, as though it is wounded, as though she is a girl rushing to her mother with a wounded, bloody hand, asking for help. The ‘wounded hand’ is held in a passive receptive gesture, almost a pleading gesture. The holding hand (the lower, left hand) is the responsible, adult hand, while the other (right hand) is the childish, helpless, hand. There is a duality in her, two aspects, the helpless aspect, and the adult, responsible one, and both existing in an image of a liberated, feminist woman.
Gabriel Raam
Gabriel