Forest, Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia 1978

Editor: We’re looking at Linda Connor's "Forest, Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia," a gelatin silver print from 1978. It's striking how dense and almost claustrophobic the composition feels. What stands out to you when you look at this photograph? Curator: The image presents a complex interplay of light and shadow. Notice how the high contrast within the gelatin silver print emphasizes the textures of the bark and foliage, creating a visually rich surface. Connor’s deliberate framing, cropping so tightly, contributes to the overall sense of depth. Editor: I see that, the texture is really incredible, almost tactile. But is it perhaps a little too busy? I find my eye struggling to find a point of focus. Curator: That perceived "busyness" is actually a carefully constructed aspect of the image. It disrupts the traditional landscape expectation of a clear foreground, middle ground, and background. The interplay is foreground versus depth as it dissolves into grayscale, the trees and ground as the subject rather than atmosphere. This is all a kind of constructed formal quality in Linda Connor's decision making. Editor: So, the lack of a clear focal point is intentional, meant to challenge our expectations of landscape photography? Curator: Precisely. The visual tension between the details and the overall composition pushes us to examine the materiality of the photograph itself. Consider the contrast and tonal range - the interplay is constructed to reveal formal ideas within a landscape scene, as opposed to rendering any "beautiful landscape." Editor: That’s a completely different way of seeing it. I was initially put off by what I saw as disorder, but now I recognize how meticulously constructed that disorder is! Curator: Indeed. And that’s the power of a formalist approach; it allows us to move beyond the surface representation to the underlying structure and intent.