Colorado 1961

Curator: The photographic artwork before us is entitled *Colorado*, crafted by Minor White in 1961. Editor: Well, first impressions: it’s giving me fractured earth, like a parched landscape viewed from above. Very textured and quite monochromatic. What's striking is how it uses light, or the lack of it. Curator: Yes, there’s a powerful elemental feel. White was deeply interested in the concept of equivalence, imbuing his photographs with a symbolic resonance that transcended the mere depiction of a scene. He saw this photograph not just as landscape but a record of emotional or spiritual experience. Editor: I am thinking about White's process – I wonder about the decisions surrounding exposure and development to highlight this level of abstraction. You can almost feel the process here – it reminds you that this image began somewhere tangible and was translated and transmuted into something that, for me, borders on the surreal. Curator: That element of transmutation is critical here. The fissure that runs through the frame almost like an artery – connecting the material plane to the spiritual, acting as an invitation for self reflection. There are symbolic elements of growth but also maybe scarring or healing? Editor: I find myself more anchored to the image's tangible properties. How the grainy texture emphasizes the surface quality, bringing it close to something tactile. Thinking about the context of photography as a medium at that time, what sort of interventions or manipulations did White perform in the darkroom to bring the earth to appear like something so completely detached and unreal? Curator: I see that contrast too – the tangible material process giving birth to a form that aspires to, maybe even evokes the sublime. The visual tension that White creates – perhaps mirroring the kind of tensions within the self? Editor: Ultimately, even with all its ambiguities, the work showcases the fascinating relationship between art, material, and context, opening avenues for new dialogue about photography as artmaking. Curator: An invitation to examine ourselves in the landscapes we see, both within and without, perhaps.