Front of Old Ford Possibly 1929 - 1979

Ralph Steiner took this photograph, Front of Old Ford, with a camera. It's just the front of the car, wheel and headlamp. You know, I bet Steiner was really looking at the way light makes these funny star shapes on the ground under the car. It must have been really bright that day; it gives the shot this great clarity, almost like a diagram or a drawing. I wonder if he was thinking about the way things were changing back then, with cars becoming more common. It's like he's trying to capture something solid and real in the face of all that movement. It reminds me a bit of Charles Sheeler, how he found beauty in machines, but Steiner's got this softer, more human touch, a sense of nostalgia, maybe. There’s a long conversation between artists, and their art, across time. We’re all just riffing on each other, trying to make sense of the world in our own way. And that’s the beauty of art: there's not just one right answer, it is open to interpretation.