Wardrobe--Hollywood 77 1958

Curator: Here we have Robert Frank’s "Wardrobe--Hollywood 77," from 1958, a photographic work that feels so much larger than the sum of its parts. It is an assemblage of several film strips documenting what seems to be some kind of ceremonial fitting. Editor: My first thought? Claustrophobia, mixed with muted celebration. It's all these little vignettes stacked on top of each other, each like a tiny secret revealed. I get this almost voyeuristic feeling, like I'm peeking behind the curtain of…well, of someone’s wardrobe, perhaps. Curator: Absolutely, the format itself invites that kind of fragmented reading. What makes this compelling to me is thinking about context: mid-century Hollywood and the very construction of celebrity, gendered labour, and this obsessive gaze behind the scenes. It raises interesting questions about accessibility and the manufactured image. Editor: Yeah, manufactured is right. Each strip presents these moments that are almost rehearsed. They look oddly devoid of spontaneous joy despite their proximity to such joyous event. I mean, it feels a little bleak, no? Like a scene assembled for performance. Curator: I see what you mean. It begs the question, for whom is this performance? The viewer? The camera? The selves they present for one another within that enclosed space? These people might as well be mannequins, posing within a store wardrobe. Editor: Precisely. Mannequins carefully draped. It kind of reminds me of those old dressing room montages in classic films, but stripped of all the glitz. Curator: Yes, it has this behind-the-scenes feeling, while still suggesting that even what is supposedly candid is curated in some way. I also can’t help but look for elements that expose tensions and power dynamics within these highly choreographed settings. The artifice seems to be at the heart of Frank’s enquiry. Editor: He gives us what should be a really joyful moment… and it just looks a bit deadened. The beauty is in exposing this. A melancholic snapshot of fame or celebration. It feels fitting for the era of mass image production it's been conceived into. Curator: A keen reminder that images do not reflect but actively shape social life. I always leave feeling like I’ve gained insight into both the photograph as object, and this particularly fraught time and place. Editor: For me it becomes this kind of strange poetry. Little captured moments, almost melancholic, of fabricated identity and fleeting experiences. Thanks to Robert Frank, they can transcend both time and their own making.