COUNT AND SEE

As in Shapes and Things (1970) and Look Again (1971), Tana Hoban's photographs show you everyday objects in a way that seems to lift a film of familiarity from your eyes. The seven fingers extended from two chubby young hands (the other three are folded down) are more visually real than they would be in the flesh, the rough bumps between the twelve eggs in a carton protrude compellingly, the thirty rough-edged bottle caps in six groups of five (some topside up, some lined with cork, some dented) constitute an intriguing study in textures. And (in contrast) the 50 nails, arranged in seemingly random order within five differently shaped groups of ten, have a clean, serene beauty. Look and see.