West 21st Street, New York 1959

This photograph, taken by David Vestal, is about light as much as it is about form. Look at the way the light rakes across the stone face, catching the sharp angles of the moustache, throwing shadows under the brow. There's a hand reaching out, almost tentatively, as if to make contact with the past. The stone is rough and worn, and Vestal has captured every little imperfection. It’s a beautiful record of time's passage, the way it softens and erodes even the most solid things. The composition is simple, almost classical, yet the photograph feels incredibly modern. Vestal was interested in how we see, and how photography can change our perception of the everyday. Like Frederick Sommer, Vestal takes the everyday and makes it unusual, surreal even. The photograph invites us to look closer, to see the beauty in the mundane, and to find new meaning in the things that surround us.