Hungarian Debutante Ball, New York City 1977

Larry Fink made this photograph in New York City. This black and white image captures a debutante ball, and all of the anxieties and social codes that come with it. I imagine Larry moving around the edges of the party with his camera—a fly on the wall in a tuxedo. His flash captures the performers: the debutantes, their escorts, and the people in the background, but it’s the server with a tray full of champagne flutes who steals the show. What is she thinking? She is perhaps the only 'real' person in the photograph. She's got a job to do. I wonder if Fink felt a kinship with this person—another worker, slightly removed from the center of the party, but integral to its success. Photography can be like that, like painting; it’s about being present in a moment and trying to make sense of it, one shot at a time. Each press of the shutter is like applying a brushstroke, an attempt to capture something true.