Japanese Space Agency / Toshiba, Kawasaki City, Japan Possibly 1989 - 2006

Lewis Baltz made this photograph, in Kawasaki City, Japan. With a camera, of course. The image is bisected by a heavy black curtain that falls floor to ceiling, and it feels as though something is being revealed as much as it’s being concealed. On the right, the stark sterility of the lab equipment is bathed in light. Baltz is known for his sharp focus and clinical detachment, but here, the almost painterly light that gleams on the floor suggests a more emotive experience. The tools and structures feel provisional, as though this tableau might be struck at any moment. The cold blues and greens against the flatness of the white wall lend the image a conceptual coolness. I'm reminded of Ed Ruscha's gas stations, in the way that Baltz transforms the everyday into something iconic and strange. There’s a dialogue here between documentation and poetry, precision and ambiguity, that keeps me looking.