Central Park Zoo 1963

This is a photograph of the Central Park Zoo by Garry Winogrand, and you know, black and white film really emphasizes form and gesture. It simplifies the palette, and lets you focus on what's happening in the space of the frame. I like how Winogrand has framed the people at the zoo. There's this fence, and this pipe, and the seals in the water – he's set up all these different planes in the composition. The eye jumps around, trying to figure out the relationship between them. The lines of the fence seem to trap the figures, almost like they're in a zoo themselves. The composition is great, but it's the interactions between people and animals that really carries the weight of the piece. Winogrand reminds me a little of Diane Arbus in this way, and maybe even Weegee. They all had this way of seeing the strange beauty in everyday life, and capturing it on film. They remind us that life, like art, is complicated, messy, and always open to interpretation.