Guggenheim 613--Westlake, California c. 1956

This is Guggenheim 613--Westlake, California, made by Robert Frank, we don't know exactly when. What we’re seeing here is a photographic contact sheet, a sequence of images that, for me, is all about the grit and the grain, a process laid bare. It reminds me that photography isn't about capturing reality, but about making choices, selecting and arranging. The dark, inky blacks and silvery grays create this high-contrast world. Look closely and you can see the individual frames, the sprocket holes, the marks of the darkroom. It’s like he’s saying, "Here’s the raw material, here’s the evidence of my hand." I like the way he shows us how the sausage gets made. It makes me think of Garry Winogrand, who also loved to capture the messy, chaotic beauty of everyday life. It is a reminder that art is always an ongoing conversation, a dialogue between artists across time and space.