Optometrist 1935 - 1936

This is Eliot Elisofon's photograph, 'Optometrist', printed on a small sheet of paper. I like how Elisofon uses light and shadow to construct the scene, like a painter building up layers of tone. The composition, dominated by the optometrist's sign, pulls you into the frame. The surface texture of the print isn't visible from here, but the contrast suggests a glossy finish, giving the blacks depth and the whites a crisp edge. The sign itself is a beautiful object, the shapes of the spectacles picked out in stark relief, creating a focal point that draws the eye. Look at the texture of the painted sign, the letters slightly raised and uneven, as if each mark was made deliberately. This photograph reminds me of Berenice Abbott's documentary approach to urban life, but Elisofon brings a painterly sensibility to his images, and the result is a study of how we look and how we see. It shows us that there are no definitive ways of seeing.