Untitled, from the series Dingbat 1982 - 1983

This gelatin silver print is one of Judy Fiskin’s Dingbat series. In these small, square photos, she’s really looking at the architecture of Los Angeles apartments. What’s so amazing is how she crops the frame, making the buildings seem less like places to live and more like geometric abstractions. It’s all about the surface: the flat planes of the walls, the repetitive patterns of the windows and those dingbats, those ornamental flourishes that give the series its name. Look how the grainy texture of the print flattens everything out, and the tones are so muted it’s hard to get a sense of depth. It’s like she’s painting with light and shadow, turning architecture into minimalist composition. This reminds me a little of some of the New Topographics photographers. But Fiskin’s work has a lightness and wit to it. It embraces a playful attitude, making the act of seeing and framing the subject of the work.