
Collection Online as of July 1, 2022
(American, 1899-1998)
Gelatin silver print
Image: 26.7 x 30.5 cm (10 1/2 x 12 in.)
The A. W. Ellenberger, Sr., Endowment Fund 2019.177
© Estate of Ilse Bing
not on view
Ilse Bing’s penetrating gaze is directed both at her self-image and at the viewer. The artist set up two mirrors that simultaneously provide profile and frontal views of her face. Neither is a photograph of the artist, merely of her reflection. Photography, this riveting image suggests, is a medium of illusion as well as reportage.