Golden Gate 1971

Nanda Vigo made this photograph, Golden Gate. It's cool how Vigo frames this shot, with the lamp arching over the figure, making the light a character in the image. The chrome gleams – it’s all about the surface and light, how they play off each other. I imagine Vigo was thinking about space and how light defines it. The surface of that metal looks so smooth, you know? Almost slippery. And the light? It’s not just there, it’s got a presence. It reminds me of Dan Flavin’s neon sculptures, the way he uses light as a material, like paint. Thinking about the history of images in the twentieth century, this piece captures the ways artists became fascinated with the interplay of light and space. It opens up a whole conversation about how we perceive the world around us.