Oslin's Graduation Party, Martins Creek, Pennsylvania 1977

Larry Fink made this gelatin silver print, *Oslin's Graduation Party, Martins Creek, Pennsylvania*, at an unspecified date. It's a study in light and shadow; the contrast between light and dark shapes the subjects and forms in this image. I imagine Fink observing this scene, a quiet graduation party, everyone caught in their own thoughts. He frames the father holding his child; they both have such different moods. I can see the way he's chosen to capture this particular moment, not just the subjects but the space around them. His cropping of the image makes me wonder why he chose to cut off the other child to the right. This is a scene from real life and it feels less like a "picture" and more like a document, like he has recorded reality. Fink's photograph, with its raw and intimate feel, reminds me of some documentary photography. Artists like Robert Frank, I suppose.