Real Estate #902516 1990

This photograph, "Real Estate #902516," was taken by Henry Wessel; it’s a small image, only about 6 by 9 inches. It feels like Wessel was driving around, maybe scouting locations, when he spotted this house, a bit forlorn looking. The palette is muted, sandy yellows and browns under a faded blue sky. Some of the windows are boarded up, which gives the house a kind of melancholic face. I wonder what Wessel was thinking when he took this picture. I can imagine him pausing, framing the shot just so, maybe feeling a sense of quiet empathy for this place. It’s like he’s saying, “I see you,” to this little house. It reminds me of some of the New Topographics photographers, who were interested in the everyday and overlooked aspects of the American landscape. Photography, like painting, is a way of looking and showing us what you see. Wessel’s photograph invites us to pause, to notice, and to find beauty in the ordinary.