11th Street story 7 1951

Robert Frank’s photographic contact sheet ‘11th Street Story 7’ captures a moment in time, or rather, many moments strung together, in a series of small, grainy black and white frames. I imagine Frank wandering the streets with his camera, snapping shots, curious, maybe a little detached, trying to make sense of the city. He was a master of capturing the poetics of everyday life, right? There is a sense of immediacy here. It’s like he’s thinking out loud, visually jotting down his impressions. There is the physical evidence of the filmstrip itself. The texture of the grain, the sprocket holes along the edges. It is a very direct and tactile thing. I can almost feel the artist’s hand as he develops and prints it. It’s like a conversation, a dialogue between the artist, the subject, and the viewer. And it reminds us that art is always a process, always evolving, always open to new interpretations.