Hollywood 83 1958

Here's Robert Frank's 'Hollywood 83', a contact sheet, where he's taken his camera out into the world, probably using a handheld 35mm, creating this little narrative or documentary of city life. I'm imagining him walking around Hollywood and he sees a restaurant interior, palm trees, cityscapes, traffic, and people just living their lives in a city—you know, people at lunch counters, people on the street. And he's just clicking away. It makes you feel like you’re there with him. It's like note-taking, almost like a painter's sketchbook, or a writer's notebook, where you're just gathering information to then later turn it into something else. And I suppose that's what Frank did with these images; they became part of a bigger story. I love the raw, unpolished quality – it’s like he's saying, "Here's life, take it or leave it." And it's kind of beautiful in its simplicity. He's in conversation with other street photographers who are also just trying to capture something real. It's very pure.