Seascape: Cascade River, Lake Superior 1995

Hiroshi Sugimoto made this photograph, seemingly of water, perhaps in Lake Superior. It is not an action-packed scene. He's made an almost empty rectangle. The kind that makes you wonder what he was thinking when he made it. I can imagine Sugimoto-san thinking about Rothko. The way the upper band of atmosphere meets the lower band of water is reminiscent of a color field painting, but without the color. This is a photograph. I know, but I am a painter, so for me, the question is always: What can I steal from this? What can I learn? It's like he is saying that a painter like me can stop trying so hard. It's all already out there! He is telling me that painting— or at least what I am trying to do with it— is not just a process, but an investigation of light. I'm grateful for the reminder.