Lincoln Park, Chicago c. 1948

This is a photograph by Harry Callahan, maybe taken in Lincoln Park, Chicago. It shows a concrete post with a chain hanging down each side. I’m struck by the simplicity of the image. The texture of the post, its rough surface. The way the chain loops down, each link a small repetition. It's a study in contrasts – the hard, immovable post against the flexible, hanging chain. Callahan really isolates this one little piece of the world. Look at how the chain hangs. It almost feels like a drawing, a line made of individual parts. I’m reminded of the photography of Aaron Siskind, his interest in the overlooked details of the urban landscape. Callahan really turns the ordinary into something worth looking at. Art really is about how we see, isn’t it? It opens up the world.