Untitled 1993

This photograph by Thomas Roma captures a moment in time, a slice of life, with light and shadow. I imagine Roma, his eye glued to the viewfinder, waiting for just the right alignment of figures, those white robes like notes on a musical scale and then, click. The high-key whites almost bloom, don’t they? He finds the extraordinary in the ordinary. I feel like this image is a dance between what's clear and what's not; the play of light and shadow gives it a certain mood. The little boy in the front with his hands on the bench is just perfect. What is he thinking? What is he feeling? Like a poem that doesn't quite rhyme, it lets you fill in the blanks. Roma’s images remind us that art isn't about having all the answers, it's about asking the right questions.