Of all the photographs I have made, it’s this one that gets the most questions. What is it? people ask. If I say too much, I often tell them, then it ruins the magic. But let me say this: This is certainly one of the most surprising negatives I’ve made, and it was done on expired film—Kodak Tri-X that was given to me in a rotted box by Billy Grubbs of State Film Lab (the film had likewise been donated to him, and he was to develop this negative for me). So the film is a bit fogged, no doubt, but somehow, with a simple set up in the evening, I managed to get an icon that is, especially to me, intriguing and resonant. It took a while to get the printing right—it’s split-grade filtered on Ilford Warmtone fiber-based gelatin silver paper—and a print of it hangs in my living room. I have always called it the “Monolith.” It’s as figurative as it is haunting.