Workmen digging grave, Forest Lawn--Los Angeles 1956

This is a photograph by Robert Frank; it shows workmen digging a grave at Forest Lawn in Los Angeles. I imagine Frank, with his Leica camera, crouching in the grass, composing the shot, waiting for the right moment to capture the gravediggers at work. What was he thinking when he made this? Was he pondering the cemetery’s artificiality, with its rolling green hills and manicured lawns, juxtaposed with the raw reality of death and burial? The composition is striking. The grave is a dark void in the center of the frame, surrounded by flowers, headstones, and the tools of the gravediggers' trade. The contrast between light and shadow adds to the somber mood. In this intimate shot, Frank reminds us of our mortality, and of life's ephemeral nature. It’s a great picture, really. Frank shows how much can be said with simplicity and directness.