Chicago 1948

Harry Callahan made this photograph in Chicago, using a camera and film, of course. It is such a painterly photograph, made with such simple means! The stark black and white palette, the contrast, it's almost like a drawing with ink. What I love most is the texture, those delicate branches reaching out like strokes of a brush. The snow clings to the twigs like thick impasto, creating a beautiful contrast with the negative space. There’s a spot on the lower left where the snow almost merges with the bush, blurring the line between the figure and ground, just like a de Kooning! It's this ambiguity that makes the image so compelling, this dance between abstraction and representation. Callahan’s work reminds me a lot of Minor White, who was also exploring similar themes of nature and abstraction through photography at the time. It’s funny how artists across different mediums can be in conversation without even knowing it, each pushing the boundaries of their chosen form.