Wales 17 1953

Robert Frank created this photographic work, "Wales 17", using film and marker. The film strips are arranged diagonally on a black background, marked with the number 17 in what looks like red marker pen. I imagine Frank in his darkroom, surrounded by the scent of chemicals, snipping away at the film, editing and arranging, trying to make sense of the world through these captured moments. He's like a painter using collage, layering images, deciding what to keep and what to discard. That red number almost seems to mimic a painterly gesture, a bold stroke across the surface. Painters and photographers are all alchemists, transforming reality into something else entirely. Frank's rough handling of the film acknowledges the materiality of the medium and reminds us that we’re looking at something both real and constructed. These kinds of artistic gestures create conversations across time, with all of us just riffing off each other’s ideas, trying to make sense of the world.