Landscape--near King City, California Possibly 1979 - 1983

Frank Gohlke made this photograph of the landscape near King City, California. It’s all black and white and gray, a tonal scale so subtle it almost feels like a whisper. Imagine Gohlke out there, setting up his camera, probably a large format, under a big dark cloth to shut out the light. He waits, maybe for the light to change just so, or for that feeling of rightness to come over him. This road, so stark and straight, cleaves the rolling hills, which are soft, like sleeping giants. The sky is a pale wash, with those brushstrokes of clouds suggesting movement, time passing. He's got to be thinking about the starkness of the American landscape, how the road offers both promise and emptiness. Maybe he’s also thinking about Atget and the Bechers, all those photographers who catalogued the world, but with a kind of quiet poetry. We all pick up where someone else leaves off, don’t we? Art is just a long conversation, across time and space.