Club Cornich, New York City Possibly 1977 - 1981

Larry Fink made this gelatin silver print, Club Cornich, in New York City. The women with drinks are caught mid-revelry, one looking upwards, almost towards salvation. It's a great reminder that photography can be as emotionally complex as painting. I love the dark, intimate quality and how the light catches the rings on the women’s fingers. You can almost feel the weight of those rings, the coldness of the glass, the slightly too-loud music and the press of bodies in a crowded bar. Fink is known for his unflinching portraits and the way he captures social dynamics. This feels like a sister image to Nan Goldin’s photography, in the way it captures a gritty, unguarded sense of nightlife. Both artists make you feel like you're right there in the thick of it all. It shows how photography, like painting, can be an act of bearing witness, a way of making sense of the world, one snapshot, one brushstroke at a time.