Can Opener and Box of Ivory Soap, Connecticut c. 1979

Joanne Leonard made this gelatin silver print, called ‘Can Opener and Box of Ivory Soap, Connecticut’, at an undetermined date. It’s funny, isn’t it, how everyday objects can tell a story? I think Leonard is saying something about domesticity, and how the mundane can be beautiful, or at least interesting. I feel like she’s winking at us, you know? Like, “Hey, look at this ordinary stuff. Isn’t it kind of amazing?” I can imagine her setting up the shot, adjusting the can opener and the soap, thinking about the light and the shadows. Maybe she was thinking about her own mother, or her own kitchen. Maybe she was just bored and looking for something to photograph. But whatever she was thinking, she made something really special. It makes you see the world a little differently, and to find beauty in unexpected places. And isn’t that what art is all about?