Beaumont Newhall, Albuquerque 1973

Here's Nicholas Nixon's silver gelatin print, a portrait of Beaumont Newhall. It's intimate, stark, and Newhall seems to stare right through you! I imagine Nixon setting up his camera, maybe they chatted a little before he took the shot. What do you say in that moment? It's a collaboration, isn’t it? A very awkward one if you think about it, two people trying to be natural while one has a camera pointed at them. The grayness seems to drain some colour from Newhall's face, highlighting the intensity of his gaze. Nixon’s known for these kinds of direct portraits. It reminds me how we all look at each other, artists looking at other artists. It’s all part of an ongoing conversation, isn’t it? A chain of looking, seeing, and making that stretches on and on.