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| Arnold Newman Red Wall, Green Door ca. 1950 dye imbibition print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Arthur Siegel Green Building, Red Door 1950 dye imbibition print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Saul Leiter Walk with Soames 1958 silver dye bleach print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Irving Penn Antique Shop, Pine Street, Philadelphia 1938 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| W. Eugene Smith Street in Pittsburgh Downhill Houses on Either Side - Church at End of Street 1955 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Stephen Shore Church Street & Second Street, Easton, Pennsylvania 1974 C-print Art Institute of Chicago |
On the Weight of Dailiness
α.
On an afternoon when – today – noon is unannounced,Yet divides the spheres of day into memory and waiting;
β.
In these hollow moments, when all flesh is found arbitrary,And arbitrary all the details of regret or expectation –
γ.
One might imagine rain, but instead time rushes the window;Again, wind at the window? – no, just a river of minutes.
δ.
In the green stasis of silence: an eclipse of intent.The self, unmoored, slowly rides the camber of daylight.
ε.
Start again, try – rouse the idle machine of the body.In the silence – perhaps: strange intimations of foreboding.
ζ.
What then, can reaffirm the just sovereignty of being?The mind's logic: a bridge in the air that no step follows.
η.
You are suddenly patient with folly; tire of nostalgia.The first human, the second: seeds sown in the wind's salt.
θ.
You dream of distraction, to drag you towards evening.Outside, a squall, without intent or rancor, flails the trees.
ι.
Finally you would speak: pry open the vault of silence.Your voice's clamor: the harsh laboring of a wooden bell.
κ.
In late afternoon, memory rises like carp from a muddied pool.Memory escapes capture: the shadowy forms stay buried.
λ.
Daylight, once again vanquished, burns red on the far horizon.The body – pierced by loneliness – would shed its flesh.
μ.
And the heart, distant – painfully remote – seemingly unused.But in loyalty, practicing all afternoon its common work.
– Ellen Hinsey (The White Fire of Time, Wesleyan University Press, 2002)
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| Arthur Siegel State Street, Rainy Day 1952 dye imbibition print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Joel Sternfeld 518 101st Street, Love Canal Neighborhood, Niagara Falls, New York 1994 C-print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Arnold Genthe Twisted Streets, San Francisco Earthquake and Fire 1906 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Walker Evans Wall Street Windows ca. 1928-30 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Richard Nickel Untitled (Bayard Building, Upper Stories) ca. 1955 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Richard Nickel Untitled (Bayard Building, Cornice and Windows) ca. 1955 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Richard Nickel Untitled (Garrick Theater, Detail of Ornament) ca. 1958 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Richard Nickel Untitled (Bayard Building, Ornament of Cornice) ca. 1955 gelatin silver print Art Institute of Chicago |