Untitled (empty office with two desks) c. 1950

This photograph, by Robert Burian, is simply called 'Untitled (empty office with two desks)', and it’s printed on paper at about 5 by 7 inches. You know, it kind of reminds me of those pictures of crime scenes where everything is eerily in place, but the life has been sucked out. I imagine Burian, maybe with a sigh, capturing this office space, devoid of its human energy. What was he thinking when he made it? Was he sympathizing with office workers? The negative feel of the image really brings out the rigid lines of the blinds, the desks, the chairs. It gives the room a kind of geometric starkness. But there's also a softness, a subtle textural play, that comes from the light filtering through those blinds. Maybe that’s the intention—the light is trying to creep in. The conversation of light, dark and structure makes the scene both familiar and deeply strange, like something out of a dream. Artists are always having conversations across time, and I wonder if Robert Burian was inspired by other artists. After all, a work of art is an embodied expression that embraces uncertainty, inviting multiple interpretations rather than demanding a single one.