Street Scene, San Francisco c. 1969

This photograph, *Street Scene, San Francisco*, was taken by Gordon Parks, sometime in the mid-20th century, and it makes me think about painting. There’s a tension between what's flat and what's three-dimensional; Parks sets up a stage-like space in the foreground, then shoots through it to capture a painted wall. It is not clear where the foreground ends and the mural begins. The mural looks like a stage set itself, with a painting within a painting. I wonder what brushes or tools Parks may have used to construct this composition. The darkness in the foreground really makes me think of how a painter would use tone to make a mark. In a way, it's like Ellsworth Kelly's reductive forms meet a street photographer’s eye. It’s this ongoing conversation between the real and the represented that keeps me looking.