Girl in Boat 1935

Nathan Lerner made this photograph, Girl in Boat, sometime in the mid 20th century. It's a study in contrasts, isn't it? The crisp stripes of the girl's shirt against the dark, enveloping sweater, the smooth skin against the subtly textured water. What gets me is the hand shielding her eyes. It’s not just blocking the sun, it's like she’s retreating into herself, creating a private world right there in the middle of the lake. The light is soft, almost dreamlike, making the mundane feel monumental. I think of someone like Diane Arbus, who had this knack for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Lerner shares that ability to make us see the world, and the people in it, with fresh eyes. Art, at its best, invites us to pause, to reconsider, and to find beauty in the unexpected.