Robert Gould Shaw Memorial c. 1973 - 2008

Richard Benson’s photograph, Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, is an image of a sculpture, a photograph of a thing. I really feel for Richard in this moment, like, what’s it like to photograph someone else’s sculpture? The sculpture is already a representation, and then you're re-representing that. It’s a copy of a copy, but the copy is also, you know, an original. This is so Richard Benson, thinking through the layers. The sepia tones and high contrast give it this weird sense of depth. There is this beautiful horse; the horse is pulling away from the men following behind it. Those men, their uniforms, their stance. Each one of them, carrying their kit. They must have been hot, scared, and ready for what’s coming. Benson is in conversation with the sculptor who is in conversation with this moment in time, and then he's giving it to us. He's in a conversation that way too. We are all, always, in conversation, and that is what art is about.