Two Boys on Railroad Track Outside Mobile, Alabama after 1956

This photograph was taken by Gordon Parks, in Mobile, Alabama. It shows two young boys on a railway track. The older boy carries the younger one on his shoulders. What I notice is the image's softness, a kind of muted, faded quality that seems to whisper rather than shout. There's a tenderness here, a gentleness in how the light falls and in the tonal range which is carefully compressed. This invites a slower way of seeing, inviting us to linger. The railway tracks themselves are the real subject, leading our eye into the distance. The tracks are like the stretch marks of the earth, burdened by history, bearing witness. They speak of journeys, of movement, and of the weight of lives lived. The older boy carrying the younger one, a beautiful image of resilience and care. Parks, like other artists like Roy DeCarava, understood the power of subtlety and the importance of bearing witness with empathy. Art is always a conversation, a way of seeing and feeling with others.