Hicksville Train Station 1978

Curator: Elaine Mayes' photograph, "Hicksville Train Station," presents a seemingly mundane slice of life, transformed into a rather poignant observation. Editor: The mood is pure concrete—those pillars seem to dwarf everyone waiting. The basket overflowing with litter is also hard to ignore, isn't it? Curator: It’s a study in contrasts, really. The hard, unyielding concrete versus the soft, almost listless postures of the figures. Note how Mayes uses light and shadow to isolate the figures. Editor: Right, and I see how the composition focuses attention on the physical materials of public transit—the wear on the pavement and the brutalist design. It seems to critique the everyday experience. Curator: Perhaps. Or maybe she's suggesting that even within the brutal reality of the everyday, there's a strange kind of beauty, or at least a story worth telling. Editor: It's definitely making me rethink those spaces we usually just pass through without noticing. Mayes exposes so much more.