Santa Cruz, California Possibly 1973 - 1994

Editor: This is Richard Gordon's black and white photograph, "Santa Cruz, California," possibly taken between 1973 and 1994. I’m struck by the composition, how it's divided so starkly between this dark, almost oppressive interior space and the expansive, though somewhat bleak, beach scene outside. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a yearning, maybe, for escape. Or a profound awareness of being caught between worlds. The rigid geometry of the interior clashes with the organic form of the beach, that relentless ocean pulling our gaze outward. It feels deeply personal, doesn't it? I almost wonder if Gordon felt a similar pull between, say, his inner life and the bustling world just beyond the frame. Editor: That’s a great point. The window acts almost like a painting within the photograph itself, drawing a line between reality and an imagined space. Did Gordon work a lot with these kinds of internal/external dichotomies? Curator: That’s a question I often ponder! Many of his photographs play with framing – doorways, windows – as a way to explore not just the seen, but also the unseen, the implied, and the intensely felt. The darkness surrounding the room in the photo also evokes solitude, as if this particular corner of the world exists almost out of time. This could be an enduring portrait of the Santa Cruz that only existed inside Gordon. It invites us to see the world the way he felt it. What is it you will now feel whenever you see Santa Cruz after this moment? Editor: I think I’ll always see this photograph in my mind's eye – this specific, personal vision of Santa Cruz – even when I'm actually there. Curator: Precisely. A photograph, then, becomes more than a depiction – it’s an echo, a trace of a feeling. Editor: Well, I'll certainly look at landscape photography differently from now on.