Saint Patrick's Day parade--New York City 12 17 - 1958

Robert Frank captured these frames of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York City on film, resulting in this work. The physicality of Frank's process is laid bare here, the image an index of time, place, and his own movements. Each frame a gesture, a moment seized. I'm drawn to the way he’s captured the flags, blurry and dynamic against the rigid architecture. In frame 24, there's an almost violent rip in the emulsion, or some other darkroom mishap. It’s as if Frank is attacking the image, disrupting the surface and reminding us of the fragility of the photographic process. Frank was deeply influenced by Walker Evans, who documented America with a similar, unflinching eye. But where Evans was formal and composed, Frank was raw, intuitive, and restless. He embraced imperfection, and in doing so, captured something essential about the American experience.