New York City 1970 - 1977

Larry Fink made this photograph, New York City, using gelatin silver print, a process patented in 1874, and a darkroom staple ever since. The gelatin emulsion binds light-sensitive silver halide crystals to paper, and it’s these crystals that darken when exposed to light, creating the image. The tonal range achievable with this process is fantastic, giving the photograph a unique luminosity. Fink coaxes every possible shade from the materials, pushing the contrast to an almost theatrical degree. Notice how he uses a very shallow depth of field, so that the background seems to vibrate, and certain parts of the figures—the hands, the faces—snap into sharp focus. The gelatin silver print democratized photography, making it more accessible. But even with industrialized materials, a photographer’s skill in manipulating light and shadow is paramount. Fink reminds us that even in mass production, craft and vision still matter.