John Gossage: The Pond

John Gossage (b. 1946) photographed a small, unnamed pond between Washington, D.C., and Queenstown, Maryland, between 1981 and 1985. The title was intended to recall Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, but Gossage advocated a more all-embracing view of the landscape, exploring the less idealized spaces that border America's cities and suburbs. Although many of the images in The Pond appear unruly or uncared for, Gossage found moments of grace and elegance in even the most mundane of places.