Drug store "cowboys." Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada 1945

Gordon Parks took this photograph of "Drug store 'cowboys'" in Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada. It’s a photograph, so you might not think of it in terms of mark-making, but actually photography is all about light and shadow, which you can think of as the artist carefully choosing and arranging their tones to create mood. I love the way their faces tell a story. Each one seems to have a different emotion on their face. The light catches the angles of their faces, emphasizing their individuality. The texture in this piece comes from the rough clothing the cowboys are wearing, and the faded signs in the background. You can almost feel the worn denim and the dusty air. Thinking about Parks, I can't help but think about the earlier work of Dorothea Lange, or Walker Evans who were also documenting daily life in America. It makes you think about the way artists build on each other's ideas and the way that art is always in conversation with itself. It’s a reminder that art doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to make you feel something.