Fine PhotoGraphics

Another montage of photos I took in junk shops and stores around the country. This one reminds me of a pop art playing card.

As a child I spent hours looking at the illustrations in Richard Scarry’s “Busy, Busy Town” book for children. Theodor Groll’s “Washington Street, Indianapolis at Dusk” 1892-1895 is the fine art version. The enormous 6’x8’+ size pulls you into the scene. Swipe right to see the incredibly detailed storytelling in the painting. What are those men doing congregating outside the saloon? What are people shopping for in the barrels and looking at in store windows? Notice the two women whispering to each other on the trolley? Why is the dog beside the trolley giving the boy trouble? What are the two men in the foreground discussing? What is the African American man in the tent making for the market?

Hotel Lobby by Edward Hopper in 1943. Hopper wasn’t successful until his wife became his manager. She modeled for most of his paintings. But their marriage relationship was terrible and they were basically just business partners. Hopper also felt modernization and urbanization of the period allowed people to be in proximity but disconnected. Sound familiar in the mobile device age? No wonder so many of his paintings have a deep sense of isolation and melancholy. All the details of his paintings tell a story and that’s why Hopper is an art hero of mine. Photographed at