Rock [recto] 1927

Paul Strand made this photograph, Rock, sometime in the first half of the 20th century, using the darkroom to find a range of grays. The process here is all about light’s touch on stone. Look at the texture – the way the light defines each tiny plane and crevice. It’s not just a picture of rocks; it's a study of how light and shadow create form. I keep thinking about how these forms look like human shapes - nestled together, resting, like figures in a landscape. Notice the large rock at the bottom left, how the striations in the stone curve around its surface, giving it volume and weight. Those light and dark bands also read like an abstract painting, with the stone's natural form becoming an exercise in composition. Like Georgia O'Keeffe, Strand finds the monumental in the mundane. It’s an ongoing conversation – how do we see, and what do we choose to focus on?