Michael Becotte 1975

Mike Mandel created this photograph, 'Michael Becotte', at an undetermined date. I love the gesture here, the way Michael Becotte holds the baseball bat, almost protectively, like a painter with a brush, ready to make a mark. The black and white palette adds a timeless feel, but there's also something so specifically "of a moment" about the way Becotte peers through his round glasses. I can almost see Mike Mandel circling his subject with the camera, waiting for the right pose, the perfect alignment of bat and gaze. It's a testament to Mandel's eye that he can find this unexpected composition in what must have been an everyday scene. It reminds me a bit of some portraits by Lisette Model, she also found the extraordinary in the ordinary. It shows how art is like a batting practice, a continual back-and-forth between vision and expression.