Atlantic City 1966

Ray K. Metzker created this black and white photograph, titled Atlantic City, where light falls on a figure in a dress, making vertical stripes everywhere you look. It’s like she’s standing behind bars of light. I think about the moment Metzker pressed the shutter, capturing this fleeting arrangement of light and shadow. What was he hoping to express? Was it a comment on the artificiality of city life? Or simply an exploration of visual patterns? For me, the photograph is about the poetics of urban space. A place where light and shadow create a dynamic and ever-changing environment. The woman is anonymous, like a ghost in the machine. I’m reminded of other artists working with similar forms of light and dark, the way that light itself can be a kind of paint or medium. Each artist builds on the language developed by their predecessors, but they all bring a unique voice. The history of art is one long conversation. We find meaning in the exchange.