From portfolio "Eva Rubinstein 1975."

With pursed lips, cropped hair and hands tucked into her pant pockets, a Twiggy look-a-like stares down the Waterloo Station train tracks, presumably unaware of Eva Rubinstein’s camera. The girl’s obliviousness to being photographed is alluring. She takes the viewer in: we want to know where she is going and if can we come along. The stylish girl’s mystery invites us, the viewers, to create a narrative to associate with her and establishes a dialog between the viewer and the subject of the photograph. Is the train coming or going? Who is she meeting? Despite the young woman’s presence, Rubinstein does not disclose the girl’s intent: is she nervous, excited to meet someone? Is she leaving London or arriving? Who is she looking at, out of the corner of her eye? Though the subject’s presence is tangible and carries weight in this composition, (the viewer can literally see the girl’s wrists pressed against the window as she leans out, looking for something or someone), there is no concrete narrative. The viewer yearns for more, which is why this photograph begs to be looked at. Eva Rubinstein writes, “[A photograph] is a monologue trying to become a conversation.” Girl on a Train, Waterloo Station, London is a dialog; it teases out a storyline that involves both the subject and the viewer. It is up to the viewer’s imagination to create a place for the young woman. Donielle Kaufman ’10 Wilson Intern 2009-2010

Signed in pencil on inner mat, below the lower right of the photo.

Vintage silver gelatin print.

Black and white photograph of a girl, looking to her right, standing inside the doorway on a train at Waterloo Station in London, England.

This object has the following keywords:

• Females
• Trains

This object is a member of the following portfolios: