Untitled [Kentucky, Men Fixing Cars] c. 1966

This photograph of men fixing cars in Kentucky was taken by William Gedney. I think of him out there with his camera, trying to capture something. It’s all in grayscale. Look at the guy with his foot resting on the car, head in his hand, like Rodin’s “Thinker,” and the other one with the cigarette. Gedney saw something in this scene, something so everyday and maybe that was the point. I bet it was hot and sticky that day, the kind of weather that makes everything feel slow and heavy. What were they thinking about as they tinkered with those engines? Did they know someone was watching, turning their ordinary day into art? Gedney’s photos remind us to look closer, to find the beauty and the stories in the most unexpected places. It’s about pausing and really seeing, transforming the mundane into something meaningful, like the quiet poetry of a forgotten roadside.