Motel at dusk--Las Vegas, Nevada c. 1955 - 1956

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, "Motel at dusk--Las Vegas, Nevada," with a camera, of course. It’s a study in greys, from the almost white sky, to the inky black of the motel roof. Look at the surface quality. There’s a flatness, even a deadness to it, that comes from the evenness of tone. It’s like Frank has removed himself and any sense of drama from the image, except, the dark room is where all the magic happens. The drama is in the control, the almost obsessive commitment to a muted palette, and a lack of sharp focus. It's very difficult to make grey, and flat, feel so charged! I’m thinking of Ed Ruscha, who was making similar work around the same time. Both artists captured an American banality that spoke to a generation. Ultimately the work is so much more than what it depicts. It’s about how we see, and what we choose to focus on. The blur becomes the point.