Jalapa 43 (Homage to F.K.) 1974

Curator: Here we have Aaron Siskind’s photograph, "Jalapa 43 (Homage to F.K.)" created in 1974. Editor: My immediate impression is of a primal landscape, something stark and volcanic. The deep blacks against the faded grays feel heavy, like shadow looming large. Curator: The title hints at the work's essence; it is indeed dedicated to Franz Kline, sharing that spirit of Abstract Expressionism. The photograph's geometric composition draws the viewer in, doesn’t it? It's as if the shapes exist on a plane slightly askew from our own perception. Editor: Exactly. It’s as if Siskind wanted to make painting using photography and also invoke emotional weight in the abstract through a play of formal values and materiality. The high contrast forces your eye to dart around searching for stable ground within an overall disorienting space. Curator: Given his career shift towards focusing on walls, surfaces, and seemingly overlooked details, these take on symbolic weight when isolated and enlarged as such. Each black mark bears meaning from this transformation in both scale and context. These abstracted architectural details now seem almost totemic to me. Editor: Interesting interpretation. For me, those blacks invoke a stark and isolated feel through the photographic grain. Siskind is clearly focused on manipulating tonality and texture, making this about the properties of photography itself, as well as the artist’s expression. Curator: His work invites such a dialogue precisely. What may seem an abandoned building wall, marked by accidental spills, becomes a stage where art can echo not decay but continuous transformation of experience itself into form. Editor: And that dialogue is key, for without his intervention to shape light and frame his subject—with great control— the abstract form remains locked within mundane architectural texture. The "homage," is complete when materiality allows emotional depth from shared roots in visual grammar and structure to surface.