Eleanor and Barbara, Chicago 1953

Harry Callahan made this gelatin silver print, Eleanor and Barbara, in Chicago at some point in his life. There's such a strong contrast in Callahan's black and white prints, like he’s pushing the medium to its limit, extracting every last drop of detail. I love the cobblestones here and the way the light bounces off of them, reflecting up onto the figures of Eleanor and Barbara. The grainy texture, it’s so physical, almost like you could reach out and feel the roughness of the street. What gets me is how Callahan makes the ordinary seem monumental. It’s like Edward Hopper, but with a camera – a slice of American life, capturing the quiet moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. It reminds us to slow down and find beauty in the everyday.