Rhode Island c. 1965

Harry Callahan made this gelatin silver print, Rhode Island, sometime in the twentieth century. The image is almost entirely filled with dense trees and undergrowth, rendered in stark black and white. It's like he dove right into the thick of it, no horizon line, just pure, tangled nature. The texture here is everything. You can almost feel the scratchy branches and see the way the light struggles to pierce through. Look at the upper right corner: see how the branches there are just slightly lighter, more defined? It gives the whole piece a sense of depth, like you could wander into that mess. Callahan’s work often plays with these contrasts, this negotiation between chaos and clarity. It reminds me of Aaron Siskind's photographs, where everyday objects become abstract landscapes. Art's not about answers, right? It’s about getting lost and finding something new in the process.