This photograph by Paul Strand, New York (White Fence), appeared in the 1917 issue of Stieglitz’s publication, Camera Work. It is considered a seminal work in the development of Modernist photography with it’s exploration of the formal qualities of an everyday object. Symbolically the white fence becomes an archetype of American Society (Capitalism writ large) – the division and ownership of property. A basic American freedom. Back in 1917 most everyone would find that an admirable pursuit.

More than a hundred years later in this age of oligarchs and tyrants many can plainly see the evils of greedy men amassing far too much for themselves at the expense of almost everyone else. I thought a new and more radical version of The White Fence might be in order.

In this image I continue my exploration of color reversal in a photograph. But the fence is now gray and colorless. It is not whole and protects nothing. There is a series of steps in a tangle of blue foliage leading to seemingly nowhere. There is no exploration of the tonal range of a black and white print as Strand did back when photography was new. The photo as well as American Society itself is a study in blue.