Children at Hershey plant--Hershey, Pennsylvania 1956

This is Robert Frank’s photograph ‘Children at Hershey Plant, Pennsylvania’. It doesn't have a date, but it's probably from the mid-1950s, and made with a 35mm camera, of course. There's something really beautiful in the way Frank captures the texture of everyday life. Look at the way the light falls on the backs of the children's heads, or how the different shades of gray create depth and mood. The woman at the door has this look, like she is a nice warden, and the children are just wandering in. The framing is so perfect, slightly off-kilter, capturing the spontaneity of a moment. Frank was a master of this kind of ‘decisive moment’ photography. It reminds me a bit of the work of Garry Winogrand, another street photographer who embraced the messiness of life. There's a similar kind of energy, an acceptance of the world as it is, full of contradictions and ambiguity. It's less about telling a specific story and more about capturing a feeling, an atmosphere, a sense of place.