Florida 2021

Richard Ross made this photograph called Florida; the dimensions of the image are about 55 by 38 centimeters. It’s a photograph of two people. This image is soaked in ordinary light; the light and the scene are completely unadorned. A person sitting and a person standing, indoors, in front of a wall. It’s a simple set up. The light feels like it is telling the truth, like it is showing you the here and now. The texture of the wall, the tile floor, are captured with an attention to surface. The image is carefully balanced and the people are carefully placed, as if they were objects being arranged. The details like the mask around the seated person's neck or the phone in their hands, the socks and sandals on the standing person, these things give the image so much character. There is no one meaning to extract from the image, no moral of the story, but instead a rich description. Like the paintings of someone like Elizabeth Peyton, the piece captures a feeling, a mood that lingers.