Coney Island, New York 1954

This photograph was taken by Ann Treer, who was born in 1922. The silvery blacks and greys capture two women at Coney Island, New York, in an undated image. I can almost feel the grainy texture of the photo paper, right? It’s like the image is made up of tiny dots, creating this soft, dreamy effect. I wonder, what was Treer thinking as she snapped this shot? Did she know that a century later, we would be here pondering it? Look at the woman's eyes, how full of life she is, and her friend who is just chowing down on a snack. There is a beautiful contrast between them. I think of other artists, like Garry Winogrand, snapping pictures on the streets of New York. There is this shared love of capturing real life in all its messy, unscripted glory. And, you know, that is what keeps the conversation going. Artists are constantly riffing off each other. It is a back-and-forth across time, where meaning is never fixed but always evolving.