Self-Portrait, Financial District, San Francisco 1973

Michael Jang made this black and white photograph, Self-Portrait, Financial District, San Francisco, probably sometime in the 1970s, using a camera and film. Jang is not afraid to use high contrast, and here the deep blacks and bright whites create an image that feels like it is about to pop off the paper. The composition is so interesting. The figures are all facing different directions, and yet, they’re all in the same space. I'm drawn to the man in the foreground, he looks like the director in a Godard film, daring you to look at him! His presence is so strong, and he’s framed by the woman behind him, who almost seems to be fading into the background. It reminds me a little of Lee Friedlander, someone who also captured the weird poetry of the everyday, but Jang’s work feels more personal, more like a conversation with himself. Ultimately, this image is a wonderful reminder that art doesn’t always have to be about grand statements; sometimes it can just be about capturing a fleeting moment in time.