San Quentin Point, no. 1 Possibly 1982 - 1985

Lewis Baltz made this gelatin silver print, "San Quentin Point, no. 1," and it’s a masterclass in making something out of seemingly nothing. The grayscale palette is almost a non-palette, and yet, it’s everything. Look at the way the light hits that patch of bare earth in the foreground. Baltz coaxes so much texture out of it, you can almost feel the grit under your fingers. The way the tones shift and blend reminds me of the mezzotint technique, it’s all about subtle gradations and a limited tonal range. The composition, too, feels so casual, like a snapshot, but there's a rigor and formal precision that's hard to ignore. His work reminds me a lot of the Bechers, with their serial approach to industrial landscapes. Baltz, like them, is interested in how we see, and what we choose to see. It's all about looking closely and finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.