26 September

Robin In Red Hook

by Jon Katz

I’ve always believed that the best photos that I ever take are of people that I love. All of my photos are about emotion, in one way or the other.

In recent months, my daughter Emma has been taking remarkable photographs of Robin, her four-year-old daughter, and my granddaughter.

The virus has been hard on Emma and Jay, Robin has not been in school since February, she started back this week.

I haven’t seen them since March, and between my surgeries and the virus in New York, I probably won’t see them for a good while yet, perhaps not until there is a vaccine.

Emma and I have drawn closer in recent years, but we never talk as easily as we communicate through our photographs. We are both good talkers, but not always with one another.

But when I see her photos, I hear her speaking to me. Love opens one up, and the camera catches it.

Photos like this talk to me, and I deeply touched by Emma’s feelings and rich creativity.

This shot is almost perfectly composed, centered, and full of feeling. I have no use for photographic conventions like thirds, but I’m very drawn to solitary and centered pictures with a lot of sky.

Red Hook is a waterfront a few miles from their Brooklyn apartment. They go places once or twice every weekend. I am grateful for these photos, they keep me close to both of them even when I can’t get to see them.

They are so rich with feeling, and they fill me with feelings.

3 Comments

  1. Even those of us who do not know and love Robin can feel the deep connection between your daughter and her daughter that eminates through this photograph. It is amplified by my own pandemic weary soul to also reflect a sense of isolation, fragility, and yearning in a stunning composition.

  2. I love how just one well composed photograph can tell an entire story. I never tire of them, especially when the person behind the lense puts so much of themselves into capturing the story. Thanks so much for sharing them. They take me away!

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