McDonald's, Côte Saint-Luc, Montreal c. 1978

This is a black and white photograph by Lynne Cohen, titled McDonald's, Côte Saint-Luc, Montreal. It's from sometime in the late 20th century, and captures the kind of uncanny feeling you get in the back rooms of commercial spaces. The composition is deadpan, a row of high chairs lined up under framed, patterned panels. It’s a cool palette, all grays and whites. The symmetry of the chairs and the patterns on the wall create a strange kind of rhythm. This makes you wonder what you are really seeing. Look at the way the light catches the plastic of the high chairs. It’s almost clinical, like a laboratory. The floral pattern in the right panel has a ghostly quality, like faded wallpaper in an abandoned building. This photograph reminds me of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Like them, Cohen found a weird beauty in the mundane, turning the ordinary into something unsettling and thought-provoking. It’s a testament to the idea that art can be found in the most unexpected places.