Allentown Museum, Pennsylvania 1978

Larry Fink made this gelatin silver print, Allentown Museum, Pennsylvania, and it's a dance of light and shadow, a real chiaroscuro party. The subjects aren’t exactly posing; they’re caught mid-gesture, mid-thought, which lends the whole thing a documentary feel. Fink’s got a great push and pull happening here between the figures in the foreground and that wild painting looming behind them. It’s like a backdrop of swirling mythology crashing a black-tie event. Look at the contrast – the way the flash highlights the faces, brings out the texture of the hair and fabric, then fades into inky blacks. You can almost smell the canapés and champagne, right? For me, photography, like painting, is a process of excavation. You start with a moment, a feeling, then you dig in, layer by layer, until you find something that resonates. Like Robert Frank, Fink has always been interested in capturing the undercurrents of American life. And, like all great art, this piece is less about answers and more about asking the right questions.