Lopez

María Magdalena López kept a tiny box of hand-tinted photographs on her mantel, each dancer’s costume slightly more vivid than the last. In 1898 she pinned a young woman’s crinoline between two chairs, lit a single lamp, and shot “Guy Little Theatrical Photograph” from floor level so the sequins read like stars. Look for the shadow of her elbow in the corner; she never erased it. This is the picture to hunt down in the digital gallery—zoom in on the hem and you’ll see every bead spelled out in mirror-bright silver.