Untitled, Czech Republic (Family of Miners series) 1990

Milton Rogovin made this black and white photograph of a miner in the Czech Republic. Look at how the dust clings to his skin and clothes, it's almost like another layer of being. Photography, like painting, is a process of layering light and shadow. Here, the greyscale tones create a stark, immediate impact, but the real power is in the details. The way the light catches the miner's eyes, so they glow from the darkness of his dust-covered face is arresting, so too the texture of the wall behind him, which appears rough and cavernous. That wall reminds me of Abstract Expressionist painting, like Clyfford Still, the way it seems to stretch on forever. Rogovin's work, like Still's, is about pushing the limits of the medium to capture something essential about the human condition. It's a conversation about what it means to be alive, and to keep going, even in the face of darkness.