Otego, New York 2 - 1990

James Welling made this photograph, Otego, New York, using gelatin silver print. The whole photograph has this very particular silvery sheen, you know, like the kind you get when light hits metal just right. Look how the textures play out, how the silver reacts to the light - it's not just about what’s in the image, it’s about the physical stuff of the photograph itself. Take the way the train tracks lead your eye right into the scene, towards the train, everything feels kind of soft but still, you can almost feel the rumble of that train. But it’s also a bit dreamlike, thanks to those delicate silver tones. Welling reminds me a little of Bernd and Hilla Becher, with their grid-like photos of industrial buildings. Only Welling is off on his own path, making images that are about documenting and feeling at the same time. It shows you, photography is never just about taking a picture, it’s about seeing and experiencing the world in a new way.