Stringing Lights, San Jose, California 1972

Ken Graves captured this image, Stringing Lights, in San Jose, California. He’s working in black and white here, which kind of flattens everything out. I can imagine him looking through the viewfinder, thinking about how to frame this everyday scene. Is he thinking about a particular photographer, or a mood, maybe something melancholic and funny? The guy in the picture is half hidden, caught in a moment of domesticity. The lights are like a mask, but also this heavy burden. I like how the shadow mimics him on the wall, a dark, silent twin. It makes me think about how we're all just trying to find some light, even when we’re tangled up in the process. There’s an ongoing conversation between artists of photography, cinema, and painting, sharing ideas and approaches to light, and how we see the world.