Mary Bei Prince, 2020

Eleanor, Chicago • 1948 • Harry Callahan

In his photograph, Harry Callahan utilizes lighting to juxtapose architectural elements and the human body by reducing them to abstract forms. Within the black and white image is a central, protruding window, a light source that barely illuminates the dark walls that surround it. At the bottom right of the composition rests a nude woman, leaning against a chair with her back to the viewer; she gazes toward another room to the right that is illuminated by light.

The cropping of the photograph conceals the figure from the waist down and obscures the room from the viewer’s perspective. This diagonal backlighting (or side lighting sourced from either side) describes the dimensionality of the figure, producing a sharp contrast in tones that stress the curved forms of the human body while separating it from the background. Likewise, her posture facing away from the viewer, accentuates this abstraction of the figure. She relinquishes recognition while her hairstyle exposes her back to prioritizes the body. She becomes an arrangement of highlights and shadows that are reflected throughout the room.

Light from the rectangular window creates a gradual gradation in tone from that darkens from the bottom right to the top left. This soft spectrum is sharply interrupted by the vibrant light of the window, which is complemented by the angular shapes that organize the feature. The structured geometry of this architectural form creates a system of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines that are engulfed by an expanse of darkness. Furthermore, the asymmetrical arrangement intensifies the disjointed nature of the photograph. Callahan’s photograph utilizes lighting to study corresponding, abstract forms shared by the human figure and architecture.