"It isn't what a picture is of, it is what it is about."
~ John Szarkowski
(1925-2007)
John Szarkowski was perhaps the most well-respected photography critic and curator. As eloquent and influential as his thoughts on photography were the same can be said about his own photographic practice. He devoted his entire life to photography and his passion for the medium can be felt emanating from his images. One of his most impactful bodies of work, The Face of Minnesota, Szarkowski documented the backbone of the Midwestern state, the people and places. For me, this photograph has a tenderness to it, it is a record of the care a farmer has in tending to the land and providing nourishment to society. Farmers spend countless hours dedicating their life to enriching the land around them, and just like this farmer, Szarkowski has enriched us in preserving this moment in time. As he states in the book, “he could watch the land change under his hand, change not necessarily to something better, but to something new; from something eloquent and wild to something gentler, more in man’s scale, more companionable, more human.”
