Norfolk Southern Tracks, Attica, Ohio 21 - 1991

James Welling made this gelatin silver print, Norfolk Southern Tracks, Attica, Ohio, with a real tenderness for texture, an approach to photography as a kind of sculptural, material engagement. Look at the way the gravel bed around the train tracks dissolves into the distance, a kind of blurring, granular haze. The grainy feel of the image gives the whole scene this really tactile, almost painterly quality. It’s not about capturing a pristine image, but about getting into the nitty-gritty of the physical world. The way the silver gelatin print renders the surfaces of the metal towers, the wood of the telephone poles, and the gravel. Everything’s got this weight and substance that feels incredibly present. Welling is interested in the conversation between photography and painting, like artists such as Gerhard Richter. Both embrace a sense of process, seeing their medium not as a tool for perfect representation, but as a way to engage with the world in a more ambiguous and open-ended way.