Rockland Palace--New York no number 1958

Robert Frank created this gelatin silver print, Rockland Palace--New York no number, using black and white film. Look at these strips of film! Each frame captures a moment, a potential story, within a bustling crowd; they shimmer with the promise of untold narratives. The darks are deep and velvety, punctuated by flashes of light that dance across faces in the crowd. I think that the artist might have walked through the crowd, just trying to capture its feel, the essence of the place. I wonder, was he looking for something in particular, or just open to whatever he found? Did he feel the warmth of the lights on his skin, and hear the music's throb in his chest? It reminds me how all artists are magpies, collecting scraps of the world to build their nests, their visions. Frank's frames make me want to grab my camera or even my paints, and start recording my own fleeting impressions of this ever-shifting world.