“It takes the passage of time before an image of a commonplace subject can be assessed. The great difficulty of what I attempt is seeing beyond the moment; the everydayness of life gets in the way of the eternal.”
~ George Tice
(1938-2025)
George Tice is one of the true greats in American photography, and this image is one of the all-time great classic American photographs. I have loved it since I first arrived in America in 1979. The subject may seem commonplace—a gas station in New Jersey, where most of his great images have been shot—but it is compelling and haunting. George has not traveled much in his career. He has found a wealth of subject matter right on his doorstep. This image emanates a great feeling of mood and layers of meaning, and even a slight melancholy and sense of loneliness, in the same way that Edward Hopper’s best paintings affect you. It is in the physical beauty of the print. George has honed his darkroom skills over six decades of an intense work ethic like no one else I have seen. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? How do you make a print that just glows and staggers you in its profound beauty? Experience, and a God-given rare talent and eye. This is a great example of the poetics of place. Through George’s work, I have come to understand America better and appreciate all its myriad small miracles and moments. Thank you, George, for almost 40 years of inspiration and friendship.
