Frida Kahlo was about seventeen in these family photographs taken by her father, Guillermo Kahlo, circa 1924. Each member of the family has a pose reflective of their station, but it is Frida who holds our attention—her gaze, directed straight at the camera, daring us to look away.

There is a game being played. Frida dressed as a boy in shirt, tie and three-piece suit. She was playing a role, flouting convention, challenging the viewer’s notion of gender.

Being used to seeing photographs or paintings of Frida Kahlo in her colorful, theatrical dress, these simple family portraits are beautiful, seductive and potent. Frida had learnt from her father the tricks of photography and how best to use the camera to project an image, an identity. Against the indiscriminating eye of the camera, Frida appears to be confident, fearless, utterly aware of the power of her own image.