Guggenheim 771--Jay, New York 1956

Robert Frank's "Guggenheim 771--Jay, New York" is a contact sheet, a direct print from a roll of 35mm film. It reveals Frank's photographic process, and his unique style of street photography, as something rooted in documenting life as it unfolds. Contact sheets like these were working documents, a means for photographers to assess their negatives and choose images for printing. Frank, however, presents it as a final work, complete with red grease pencil markings that highlight his selected frames. The rough aesthetic of this material and making provides an unfiltered look into Frank's creative choices. His approach has a social context. Frank’s work was created at a time when affordable cameras allowed for a democratization of image-making. His use of the contact sheet challenges traditional notions of what constitutes a finished photograph, as a rejection of fine art in favor of direct, unvarnished observation. The choice of this mundane object, elevates everyday moments. In doing so, Frank expands our understanding of photography, by showing us the labor and the artist’s decisions behind the image.