The Cloud 1912

Alvin Langdon Coburn made this photograph, "The Cloud", using a camera and light. Looking at this image, I'm thinking about Coburn looking up, composing with the sky. There's a dialogue happening between the shapes of the land and the cloud, almost mirroring one another. It’s like he's asking, what makes this a good picture? The tones and composition are doing a lot of the work. It reminds me that all artists are in a conversation across time, playing with similar ideas, whether it’s clouds, or landscapes, or whatever. It’s all about how we translate what we see and feel into something new. It’s a back-and-forth, a real exchange of energy and imagination.