Children playing, Paris 1951

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, *Children playing, Paris*, at an unknown date. Looking at it, you can see Frank had a real talent for capturing fleeting moments; like a painter using quick, gestural brushstrokes. The grainy texture gives it a raw, documentary feel, like he just happened to be passing by and snapped the picture. Notice how the children are blurred, suggesting movement and energy, while the statue in the background is frozen in time. It's like Frank is saying something about the contrast between the vitality of youth and the permanence of art. There's this one kid running towards us, almost out of focus, like he's about to burst out of the frame. It reminds me of the way painters like Gerhard Richter use blur to suggest the elusiveness of reality. Frank really gets at something about the nature of photography itself, its capacity to both capture and distort reality.