Eleanor, Michigan 1953

Editor: We’re looking at Harry Callahan's "Eleanor, Michigan," a gelatin-silver print from 1953. The contrast is striking, with areas of near-total darkness alongside almost blinding light. There’s a figure, I think, near what looks like a window or opening to the outside. What strikes you when you see this piece? Curator: The material reality is what grounds this piece. The gelatin-silver print itself is crucial. It was an industrial process, right? Callahan buying the materials, engaging in darkroom labor… This process enabled a specific kind of reproducibility, a potentially wider distribution of this image. The "art" isn’t just in the scene he chose but in his engagement with these manufactured goods. What impact do you think the gelatin-silver printing has on how we read this work? Editor: That's interesting – it makes me think about how accessible photography was becoming, or trying to become, compared to painting or sculpture. And maybe the black and white format highlights that reality even more? Because we often perceive B&W as more documentary or “real.” Curator: Exactly! The material choice speaks to an industrial mode of seeing, where the indexical link to reality – however mediated – becomes paramount. Callahan is intervening within those systems. The fact that it’s his wife Eleanor...he’s domesticating and personalizing an industrial mode of production. Labor, too. He's engaging in very particular kinds of labor here, both in the darkroom and by creating images. And labor's implicit in Eleanor’s role, right? Wife, model, muse… Editor: I see what you mean. Considering the labor and materials really changes how I look at this photograph! Thank you for sharing that perspective. Curator: My pleasure. Hopefully, now you can look at many photographic artworks through that lens!