Saint Patrick's Day parade--New York City 3 17 - 1959

Robert Frank made this photograph of a St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City using black and white film. It's so clearly a photographic image; it's made up of a series of frames from a roll of film. You can see the edges of the film and the sprocket holes. It makes me wonder if it's about the nature of time. You know, the way a painter like Gerhard Richter uses photographic images in a series. I can imagine Robert Frank walking along the parade route, lifting his camera to his eye, and snapping away. A little like Cy Twombly marking the canvas. I see repetition and variation, the way certain motifs recur. He's like a visual poet, capturing fleeting moments of everyday life. That tonality! The shades of gray, the stark contrasts. The photographic image has always been closely tied to painting. And in turn, all art comes down to a conversation.