Peshawar, Pakistan 1982

Ed Grazda’s photograph captures a moment of everyday life somewhere, I presume, in Peshawar, Pakistan. The tones of the photograph are muted, a lovely grey scale from the light sky, reflected in the boy's face, right through to the black rubber of the tires. I can't help but wonder what Grazda might have been thinking as he framed this shot. He's clearly drawn to the juxtaposition of labor and ornamentation: the delicate decoration of the truck's facade against the boy squatting to clean the massive wheels. It’s the kind of image that lingers in your mind. It reminds me of the work of other photographers who find beauty in the mundane, like Walker Evans or Robert Frank. They all seem to be participating in this ongoing dialogue about what is worth noticing, what deserves our attention. And in Grazda's case, it's a reminder that art can be found anywhere, if you just know how to look.