Cotton picker, Arkansas 1935

This photograph of a cotton picker in Arkansas by Ben, born in 1935, is a study in grey. Shades layer over each other as the eye travels the picture plane, but they don’t sit still. It’s all texture here, it's all in motion. See the rough-hewn planks of the wooden platform, how they press upward against our gaze? The eye is kept above the ground, as the artist positions us, the viewer, on the same level as the figures on the platform. And then there’s the soft focus on the picker’s face. Note the weight of the cotton bag slung over their shoulder and the gentle way he holds the cotton in his hand. The surface of this image feels like a conversation, a negotiation between hard and soft. Artists like Dorothea Lange, also working in documentary modes at the time, spring to mind. Like many great artworks, this photograph invites us to see, think, and feel in multiple ways.