Beginnings, Frosted Window (72 N. Union Street, Rochester) 1962

Minor White made this gelatin silver print, Beginnings, Frosted Window, at 72 N. Union Street, Rochester. It’s a process-oriented image, right? You can feel the weather, almost smell the cold. The tones are so interesting, shades of grey that feel both dense and light. Look at the way the frost feathers out around those brighter circles, like ghostly plants. I wonder what kind of lens he used? You get this amazing depth of field, where some parts are razor sharp and others dissolve into a soft blur. It’s like memory, how certain details stick with you while the rest fades. That dark, textured patch on the left really grabs me. It’s so full of tiny details, like a miniature landscape. What’s amazing is how this everyday scene is transformed into something almost abstract, pushing us to see the world in new ways. It makes you think of Alfred Stieglitz, another photographer who found the extraordinary in the ordinary. It is a reminder that art is everywhere, if you just know where to look.