Untitled Possibly 1989 - 1991

This monochromatic photograph by Judith Joy Ross captures a kid trying to climb onto a bicycle. It’s a simple image, printed on a ten-by-eight-inch sheet. I wonder what Ross was thinking, setting up her camera, focusing on this particular moment of childhood. She has a way of showing kids—like, really *seeing* them, not sentimentalizing or making them cute, but catching them as they are, in their own world. I always think of the paintings I've made, with the build-up of layers. I can imagine her setting up the shot, waiting for the right light, the right gesture, and then—click—the moment is captured, like a painter adding a final stroke. It's kind of like how we build up layers of paint, adjusting and responding until something emerges. Ross isn’t just documenting; she’s connecting, relating, and finding meaning in the everyday. It's like painters who are in a constant conversation, and exchange ideas across time.