Cuzco, Peru 1974

Curator: "Cuzco, Peru," a gelatin silver print by Harry Callahan, taken in 1974. It has this stark, geometric feel that really grabs you. Editor: The heavy shadow contrasting the light wall immediately conveys a sense of displacement, right? It evokes the socio-economic shadows of a city like Cuzco, Peru, at that time. Curator: It’s interesting you see it that way. I see the shadow as an extension of the building. Like, everything is rooted, solid... and there's just a hint of hope with the little bit of sky we see. Editor: I’m not sure it reads as hope to me. The sky seems… distant. Think about what Callahan, as a white American photographer, was choosing to focus on in Cuzco. Is this just an aesthetic study or something deeper? Curator: I don’t think Callahan had a grand political agenda in mind necessarily. He was all about seeing what’s in front of him, playing with light and texture. The texture in that wall! It’s amazing how a wall can hold so much character. It has almost has the same appeal as that woman crossing the wall. She’s just living in it. She belongs there as much as the wall does, I think. Editor: And her shadow! Note the duality of her being. How she’s also fading in the photograph, an indication of the fleeting nature of time that consumes us all. How is she situated as a woman, as indigenous to the space? It complicates that easy read of belonging you mentioned. Curator: Well, to me the woman is almost floating. As if she doesn't belong and yet here she is! But, I get your point. Her dress is really fascinating. Almost as geometric as the structure itself. There is something solid and powerful with her dress. Editor: I agree with that solid, powerful aspect. There is more depth in the picture once you really sit with it and let all the ideas sit with each other as well. The simplicity feels deceptive at first. Curator: Deceptive! Yes, absolutely. At first it's just a beautiful composition of shadows and light but really its a testament to being wherever you find yourself, or trying to be there, in every sense. Editor: For sure, its those layers, social and artistic that reveal more than we originally expect, it becomes about how to see, as much as what to see.