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

Robert Frank shot this contact sheet for ‘Saint Patrick's Day Parade--New York City 3’ using gelatin silver. The entire sheet is a process. It's all about the flow, the back and forth, not just about the end picture but about all the tries and misses, right? It's amazing how he lets the accidents become part of the work. Look at the texture, the graininess. It’s like he's wrestling with the light, pushing the contrast to see what happens. The images are dark and brooding, and you can sense that he is trying to catch that fleeting moment when the light catches the city just right. There is something about the images that makes the viewer feel like they are there. You get the feeling of someone not being afraid to make a mistake, and I think that's really cool. It reminds me of Garry Winogrand’s street photography. Both artists captured life as it happened, without filters.