Peru, no number 1948

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print in Peru with no date. Frank is like a jazz musician, riffing on reality with his camera. He's not trying to give us the whole picture. Instead, he throws together these almost dreamlike sequences, which he shoots, develops, and edits. Look how the light bleeds across the frames, creating a kind of hazy atmosphere. There's a real physicality to it, like he's wrestling with the medium, pushing it to its limits. One frame catches my eye, it shows children. They're partially obscured by light and shadow. It feels like a memory, fragmented and fleeting. This piece reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter's photo paintings, the way he blurs the line between photography and painting, creating a sense of ambiguity and unease. Ultimately, Frank invites us to embrace the messy, imperfect nature of seeing.