Peter Beard and Delfina Rattazzi, Montauk, New York 1977

Curator: Here we have Larry Fink’s gelatin silver print from 1977, “Peter Beard and Delfina Rattazzi, Montauk, New York”. Editor: My initial thought is that the composition, despite the intimate scene, has a detached, almost anthropological coolness. The monochrome adds a layer of remove. Curator: Interesting. Considering Fink’s wider body of work, I’m drawn to the materials. It’s a gelatin silver print, placing it within a very specific and accessible mode of photographic production. This contrasts with the apparent wealth and privilege of the subjects depicted. Editor: Yes, the subjects. Peter Beard, the famed diarist and photographer himself, and Delfina Rattazzi. The location is key, too: Montauk, a playground for New York’s elite. Fink often turned his lens on those in power. It feels like a quiet study of class. Curator: I agree. I wonder about the conscious decision to use this particular medium, to employ a technique achievable by many while documenting such a rarified milieu. The printing process emphasizes labor and craftsmanship, setting in contrast with the perceived lifestyle of leisure and excess. Editor: Absolutely. The seemingly casual poses—Delfina reclining, Peter seated with knees up—belie a calculated arrangement, perhaps nodding to Pictorialism? Even the inclusion of what seems to be a newspaper in the image plays on notions of everyday life juxtaposed against an idealized tableau. Curator: And consider the printing itself. The tonal range achievable in a gelatin silver print. The textures of the blanket, the subtle gradations in the sky. Every decision amplifies or refutes the status the subjects project. Editor: It feels like Fink is almost dissecting the myth of Montauk and these figures, by bringing a working class technique to what would be considered fine art. Curator: Exactly, challenging those rigid classifications and artistic choices through the final photographic piece. It is really evocative and multilayered. Editor: It certainly encourages one to consider not just who is being photographed but how that photographic choice challenges ideas of celebrity, privilege, and image production itself.