Night Construction, Reno Possibly 1977 - 1978

Lewis Baltz took this photograph, Night Construction, Reno, sometime in the 20th or 21st century. It’s all blacks, whites, and grays; it shows a half-built construction site, all beams and angles, under a dusky sky. Looking at this, I think about how Baltz framed this image, thinking about the balance of light and dark. I wonder if he was out there in the cold Nevada night, feeling the quiet of the place, the weight of the mountains in the background. The beams are like lines drawn in space, and the shadows they cast feel so heavy. I bet he was thinking about the starkness of it all, the way the man-made structure cuts into the natural landscape. It reminds me a little of Ed Ruscha's photographs of buildings, and how they capture a certain kind of American loneliness. This feels like that, but quieter, more contemplative. Ultimately, it makes you think about how we shape the world, and what we leave behind.