Mrs. Lopez and Six Confirmation Girls (Lower West Side series) 1985

Milton Rogovin made this photograph, Mrs. Lopez and Six Confirmation Girls, as part of his Lower West Side series. It’s black and white, stark, and seems to want to tell it like it is. I imagine Rogovin with his camera, a witness, trying to capture a moment of community. I bet he sees something special in these women, maybe strength, resilience, or a shared history. Look at the way they’re standing together, some holding children, filling the frame. It’s like they’re saying, “We’re here, we belong.” There’s something powerful about that directness, that refusal to be invisible. It reminds me a bit of those old group portraits by August Sander, but with more warmth, more life. Rogovin, like many photographers, was drawn to the everyday, to the faces and places that often go unnoticed. He’s part of a long line of artists who believe that art can be a way to see each other, to understand each other, and maybe even to change the world.