Cuzco, Peru 1974

This is Ed Grazda’s black and white photograph, taken in Cuzco, Peru. You know, a photograph captures a moment, but it's the tones that set the mood, right? Here, Grazda uses light and shadow to create this feeling of solemnity, of place. Look at the texture of that rough-hewn post. The way the cloth hangs off it. He's really playing with how light falls on different surfaces. And over on the horizon are the small figures of two people. There is something about the contrast between the detail of the post, and the small figures on the horizon which gives the impression of a staged scene, something halfway between a landscape and a theatre set. It makes me think of those early landscape photographs by people like Carleton Watkins, but with something added. The image leaves so much to the imagination. Like, what's the story here? What is the meaning of the post? This is what makes photography so good, it's never quite telling you what to think.