Bankers--London 37 1952 - 1953

Robert Frank created this contact sheet, "Bankers—London 37," using gelatin silver print. It's a whole other level of process, right? You’re seeing all the outtakes, the almost-weres, the not-quites, as he worked. It’s like looking into his mind, seeing how he edits, how he chooses. The surface has a kind of raw quality. You can almost feel the darkroom, the chemicals. It's not just about the image, it's about the materiality of photography itself. There’s a red number scrawled on the side, some blue lines, a big X. It’s like the picture is talking back to itself, questioning itself. Frank reminds me a bit of Garry Winogrand, who also documented city life with a kind of restless energy. They both seemed to embrace the messiness, the fleeting moments, the unresolved narratives. It’s a reminder that art is never really finished, it's just a conversation.