Boston (When the lights go out in this small Boston shelter, men sleep on cots on one side of the room, women on the other. Tammy and Rodney try to share a tender moment, but privacy does not exist in this crowded environment.) 1999

Betsy Karel made this black and white photograph, in what the title suggests is Boston, of men and women resting on cots in a shelter. I imagine Karel quietly observing, almost as if she were creating a painting where light and shadow define the forms and emotions. I think about what it must have been like to be there with her camera, deciding when to press the shutter. She’s looking for the moment where tenderness and vulnerability are most apparent. The image quality has a grainy texture, which to me almost feels like the coarse blankets the figures are huddled beneath. You can sense the weight of their bodies and perhaps the emotional weight of their circumstances too. The figures are close together, sharing the same space and, maybe, a sense of shared experience. I think Karel is inviting us to see the humanity in these individuals, encouraging us to reflect on our own sense of connection and compassion. She shows us a world, prompting us to think about our relationships, our society, and the conversations we have with each other through the medium of art.