Seagulls, Provincetown 1949

Sid Grossman made this photograph, *Seagulls, Provincetown*, using gelatin silver. Look how the grey tones are pushed to their limit! Grossman is really interested in movement, and freezing a moment in time. These birds are caught mid-motion. The composition has a kind of restless energy, which is interesting, because we're seeing something that's actually very still. The surface of the print itself has a lovely texture, with variations in the blacks and whites that make the image almost sculptural. Look at the details around the edges; the tonal range of the water, the way the reflections appear like clouds, and the blurred wing of the lower right seagull. It reminds me of Cy Twombly’s gestural marks—you get the feeling that Grossman is interested in the poetics of form. There is a conversation to be had between photography and painting and the poetics of each discipline.