Drid Williams, Capitol Reef, Utah 1962

This is Minor White’s black and white photograph, “Drid Williams, Capitol Reef, Utah”. It's a portrait, but the way White uses light and shadow almost turns it into an abstract study of form. Look at the texture of the rock face against which Drid is leaning. It's soft, almost like skin, with these little pockmarks and striations that the light catches. Then there's the smooth curve of Drid's cheek, the dark fabric of her top, and the way her hair is pulled back, all these contrasting textures. The interplay of light and shadow, the way White captures the landscape and the human form, it's all so tactile. The photograph reminds me of Georgia O'Keefe’s landscapes, how she turned rock formations into sensual, almost bodily forms. And like O’Keefe, White invites us to see the world in a new way, to find beauty and meaning in the simplest of forms, and to embrace the ambiguity of the image.