Buenos Aires, 2005, in Tucuman Street Possibly 2005 - 2014

Leo Rubinfien's photograph, taken on Tucuman Street in Buenos Aires in 2005, it's all about how light shapes a face, and how a face shapes a place. Rubinfien’s photo, in black and white, has a sharp contrast between light and shadow, and feels very much of a piece with the tradition of street photography that artists like Garry Winogrand were working in back in the 60s. The image has a classic feel, but it’s also very much its own thing. The man's expression, caught in that split second, is what really grabs me. He’s looking off to the side, and the angle of the light gives his face a sort of sculptural quality. There's something very present about the man in the photo, but the scene also feels like it is something remembered, or about to disappear. It reminds me of the work of someone like Eugène Atget, who was photographing Paris at the turn of the last century, capturing the city before it was gone. Art’s like that; a conversation between then and now, here and there.