Ferry Dock, New York 1936

Ilse Bing made this photograph, Ferry Dock, New York, using gelatin silver. The scene is cast in a symphony of grays that makes you feel the dampness in the air. It’s a quiet moment at the edge of the water, with old-fashioned lamp posts and the strong horizontal lines of the pier cutting through the misty atmosphere. I wonder what Bing was thinking, standing there with her camera. Was she drawn to the geometry of the dock, or maybe it was the stillness of the water that spoke to her? There is an ambiguity that invites introspection, it's a timeless landscape. This piece is an intimate reflection that pulls the viewer in. Works like this by Bing remind us that artists are always looking, framing, and finding beauty in the everyday. Photography, like painting, offers us new ways to see, think, and feel the world around us.