The Brown Sisters, Brewster, Massachusetts 2001

This gelatin silver print by Nicholas Nixon shows four sisters standing shoulder to shoulder on a beach in Brewster, Massachusetts. I can only imagine the experience of photographing the same group of people every year. It would be like watching a painting slowly evolve. Each sister has her own story etched in her face, and Nixon captures them with such tenderness, such understated grace. Look at the sister on the right, her hands folded neatly, her gaze direct and steady. There is a sense of quiet strength there, resilience perhaps. You can see the passage of time in the lines around their eyes, the subtle changes in their expressions. I think of the years, the shared experiences, the unspoken bonds that connect them. There is a raw honesty in the faces of the sisters. They look like they know each other, and know a lot about life! And this piece has a quiet, enduring power.