Dog Show, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 1979

Ken Graves captured this silver gelatin print called Dog Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There’s a table with a checkered cloth and a woman sitting, almost blending into the background. But then, BAM, this giant black poodle steals the show, or, well, it should, at the dog show! It’s being hugged from behind by someone we can’t see but sense the embrace, and it is pure tenderness. I can imagine Graves, camera in hand, maybe feeling a little lost in the crowd, searching for a story. Then he sees this, a moment of such quiet intimacy amid all the… barking. I feel the click of the camera, like he is freezing a fleeting feeling. The light is soft and the tones gentle, there is a touch of melancholy in the air, you know? Photography, like painting, is about framing a point of view, and Graves shares with us that there is beauty in everyday moments, reminding us that art can be found in the most unexpected places.