Guggenheim 392--Albuquerque to Las Vegas, Nevada 1955

This is Robert Frank’s filmstrip, Guggenheim 392--Albuquerque to Las Vegas, Nevada. I can almost feel Robert Frank with his camera, driving between Albuquerque and Las Vegas. In the darkroom, Robert Frank circles some frames in red pen, maybe the ones he likes best. He frames the road tripping experience, the open landscapes and claustrophobic interiors. There are long roads, cloudy skies, interiors, and cars. I wonder what he was thinking, driving along these roads. There's the American West, but his perspective is different. You sense how he is interested in the grit and the ordinary, not the ideal. You can almost feel his body in the car, feel the movement, the constant shifting perspective of a life in transit. He's like a painter, thinking about composition, light and dark, what to include and what to leave out. And this selection process helps him find something new.