Night and Day 1993

Victor Masayesva Jr. created 'Night and Day' using photography and collage, juxtaposing the real and the artificial. The photographic element captures a stark, grayscale landscape, perhaps a shoreline, rendered in tones that emphasize its textures. Masayesva layers meaning through the addition of patterned blue paper, emblazoned with white stars. The contrast between the photograph’s realism and the paper’s manufactured aesthetic is striking. The effect is unsettling, almost as if the artist is posing questions about the way we overlay idealized images onto lived reality. This strategy acknowledges the labor inherent in both photography, with its darkroom processes, and the mass production of printed materials. By bringing these two modes of production together, Masayesva blurs the lines between observation and intervention, craft and commentary. This reminds us that every image is constructed, every representation mediated.