Gretchen Bender 1986

David Robbins made this gelatin silver print, "Gretchen Bender," in 1986. I look at this black and white image and I think about light and shadow, the push and pull between them. What was Robbins thinking when he decided to capture Bender in this way? What’s the relationship between the artists? Is she posing, or is this a candid shot? Maybe it doesn't matter. What does come across, though, is her joy. Her smile radiates warmth. The picture is a trace of her. Photography and painting, though different, both use light and dark to create form. Think of chiaroscuro! Painters have always looked to photography, and photographers to painting, for inspiration. Photography can capture a fleeting moment, while painting is a slower, more deliberate process. Both are ways of seeing, feeling, and documenting the world. And it’s all a conversation, you know? Artists respond to each other across time. Each artwork is a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty and allowing for multiple interpretations.