Eleanor, Chicago c. 1954

Harry Callahan made this photograph, Eleanor, Chicago, using a camera and film. It’s so dark and contrasted, it feels like a painting somehow. I imagine Harry Callahan, wandering through Chicago, searching for a scene, a sliver of light, or a feeling he can capture. The dark and the light here are so dramatic, right? The blackness is kind of intimidating, like the thing is about to collapse into nothing. It's a real mood. I think it is a quiet mood. But then there's that window, that room, that little burst of hope way in the background, and, yeah, I start to feel the push and pull between the dark and the light. Callahan, you are such a romantic! This kind of seeing is so interesting to me - as if the camera and the artist are one single sensing machine. It really gets me thinking about how we see, what we choose to focus on, and how much we miss in the shadows.