[Haircutting in Front of General Store and Post Office on Marcella Plantation, Mileston, Mississippi] 1939

Marion Post Wolcott made this gelatin silver print in Mississippi, showing a haircut in front of a general store. It's like a small stage, isn't it? A moment captured. Look at the way Wolcott plays with light and shadow. The textures of the building, the clothing, they tell a story. It’s the everyday, but it feels… charged. The man getting the haircut is perched on a Coca-Cola crate. That's a small detail, but it speaks volumes about the context. The image is full of right angles and verticals, but there's a slant, a leaning quality. And the faces. They’re not posed, they're caught in the act of simply being. The composition, the grays, all push you in close. Wolcott’s work has a kinship with Walker Evans. Both looked unflinchingly at America, but Wolcott brings a kind of intimacy. It is a reminder that art can be found in the most unexpected places, and maybe beauty is just a matter of how you look.