Times Square, New York 1997

Andreas Gursky made this photograph in Times Square, New York. You can see the facade of the Marriott hotel, which looks like a gridded wall. I love the flatness of the image, which pushes back against what we expect in a photograph. The balconies are repetitive and recede into the distance, creating a pattern that feels overwhelming and strangely captivating. It almost feels like a geometric abstract painting. There is a tension here between the micro and the macro. The texture created by the grid is offset by the vastness of the architecture. What was Gursky thinking when he took this picture? What did he want us to feel? How might the history of abstract painting inform this work? For me, this is a quiet conversation between photography and painting, structure and chaos. I find it totally inspiring.