Getty Museum

Open Sea, Cape Split, Maine

Date

1946

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

While he explored New England, Paul Strand kept up a frequent correspondence with Nancy Newhall (1908-1974), who was acting curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and contributed the text to _Time in New England_ (1950). In one letter dating from June 1946 he spoke of the difficulty of capturing the ocean: "The sea remains a tough problem. You really have to live with it and be ready for the dramatic moments when and if they come. None so far." The notion of waiting for the right moment was an important one for Strand, who acknowledged somewhat sardonically that while the wait was not measured in years, it was a wait all the same. The calmness that must have accompanied such lengthy lingering is evident in many of the prints from this period. This serene seascape from Maine is reminiscent of Strand's expansive landscapes from the New Mexico countryside. While the vision was grand, the print is small, a creative decision that has the effect of harnessing nature. However, the strong uninterrupted horizontals in the composition— the water, skyline, and dramatic clouds—create a rhythm of repetition, suggesting that the scene continues beyond all four edges of the frame, creating an almost infinite vista (See also [86.XM.683.101](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/tms:61432)). Adapted from _Paul Strand_, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum by Anne M. Lyden (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005), 64. ©2005, J. Paul Getty Trust.

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