Pat Sabatine's Eighth Birthday Party, Martins Creek, Pennsylvania 1977

Larry Fink shot this gelatin silver print called *Pat Sabatine's Eighth Birthday Party, Martins Creek, Pennsylvania*. I can almost hear the crickets and smell the smoke. Look at the way the figures crowd the frame, their bodies and expressions so immediate. I imagine Larry Fink, moving in close, flashbulb popping, trying to capture something real about these people. The texture of their clothes, the weight of their bodies, the slight awkwardness of the pose—it all feels so alive, like a moment pulled right out of time. I love that Fink got up close. It reminds me to get close, too. It's a reminder that art is about seeing—and feeling—the world around us, trying to pin down these fleeting moments, and maybe, just maybe, understanding something more about ourselves in the process.