Maryland #18 1976

Lewis Baltz made this photograph, Maryland #18, using gelatin silver, and it's all about the way light hits a brick wall. The photo is mostly greyscale, but it's got these light patches in the middle which make for interesting shapes on the wall. What strikes me is the texture of the wall, each brick is almost fuzzy, like a charcoal rubbing. This light area is super cool, because you can almost read it, but it's totally abstract and fleeting. The black telephone wire cutting across the brick is a nice detail too, like a line in a drawing. Baltz reminds me a bit of Ed Ruscha, both artists love a flat, deadpan surface. In both cases the lack of subjective gesture opens up the work to multiple readings. There's an ambiguity here, in what you see and what you feel, which is what makes it so compelling.