Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C. Possibly 1973 - 1994

Richard Gordon made this gelatin silver print, "Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C." sometime during his lifetime, and what strikes me first is how he plays with layers of perception, like a Russian doll of seeing. The photograph is monochrome, but it's rich with tonal variation. It's got this reflective quality, bouncing light, which gives the image a tactile presence. Our eye is drawn to the contrast between the hard, geometric lines of the store front, and the soft, organic forms of the beach scene behind it. It’s like reality is folding in on itself. The arrangement of the shoes is particularly interesting; they're placed like they're walking towards the ocean, blurring the line between the real and the represented. It reminds me of Eugène Atget, who captured the changing face of Paris with such tenderness. I love how both artists make us think about what we see, and how we see it. It’s never just one thing, is it? It’s always a mix, a question, a beautiful, unresolved conversation.