White Camaro, Palmer, Massachusetts 1993

James Welling took this gelatin silver print called "White Camaro, Palmer, Massachusetts" at an undetermined date. The starkness of black and white gets you right away. It’s a classic photographic choice, right? Immediately creating a timeless feel. The Camaro sits there, looking a little forlorn, a little forgotten. I get the sense of a project started but not finished, or maybe a memory that’s slightly out of reach. I can imagine Welling walking around this scene, thinking about how the light hits the car, how the house looms over it. It's like he’s trying to capture not just an image, but also a mood, a feeling of small-town America caught in a moment of pause. There's a stillness to it, a quietness that makes you wonder about the stories behind the car and the house. Think about other photographers like Walker Evans or Robert Frank, who also found beauty and complexity in everyday scenes. Welling seems to be in conversation with them. He shows us the poetry in the mundane, the beauty in the ordinary.