Dance, American Legion, Bangor, Pennsylvania 1978

Larry Fink made this photograph, Dance, American Legion, Bangor, Pennsylvania, with a camera, some time in the last century. The grayscale makes me think about how much colour we expect to see in an image, and what happens when that’s taken away. Suddenly, you start noticing the way the light falls, and how the composition is built on shadows and highlights. It’s a dark picture, but the stark contrast of the light creates a kind of raw intimacy. The grainy texture almost makes you feel like you’re there in that smoky room. Look at the woman’s dress, how the floral pattern is just barely visible in the low light. You can almost feel the fabric. And then there’s the way the light catches the rims of the glasses on the table, that little detail is so good. Fink reminds me a little of Nan Goldin, both artists who are not afraid to show us life in all its messy, unflinching glory. Art isn’t always about beauty, sometimes it’s about bearing witness.