Dawn - Portland Harbor 1915

Philip Little made this etching, "Dawn - Portland Harbor," probably sometime in the early 20th century. I’m thinking about Little, the artist, etching into the plate, the needle scratching away the surface. You know, it's kind of funny, right? Dawn usually feels so fresh, full of light, but here it’s all moody and dark, like a secret. Look at the way he’s built up the lines. There is a cloud of tiny scratches at the top. And down below, the reflections in the water are just these jittery, vertical marks. I can feel him standing there, watching the harbor slowly wake up. Did he feel a kinship with those stevedores? Or the boats looming out of the haze? What could he possibly have been thinking at that time? It's not just a picture of a place, it's a record of him being there, feeling something, etching it out. And that’s what makes it so compelling.