Guggenheim 66/Detroit 12 1955

This is a photographic contact sheet by Robert Frank, a sequence of small images in black and white. Just imagine Frank, out there shooting and shooting, and then later in the darkroom printing these tiny pictures. You can see the film edge! I love that. He's showing us everything. Look at the crowds. It seems to be summer. People are watching something, maybe a parade or a game? There is even a sign for Brooks Lumber. Frank isn't just documenting; he's feeling. He captures a sense of what it was like to be there, to feel the excitement, the heat, the American-ness of it all. His photographs often have a sense of grit and poetry at the same time. You can almost feel the energy and rawness of that time. Frank's photographs remind me that the best art comes from seeing the world with fresh eyes and not being afraid to show the messiness of life. We are all in this together, making sense of things, one picture at a time.