Congressional V c. 1954 - 1955

Curator: So, here we have Robert Frank’s "Congressional V," a gelatin silver print made around 1954 or 55. The print shows several rows of contact sheets marked with editing decisions. What’s your initial take? Editor: Oh, wow, it feels raw, you know? Like peeking into someone's creative process. The red marks slashing through some of the frames create this nervous energy. It's less about the individual image and more about the act of selecting. Curator: Exactly. Frank's known for pushing boundaries, not just in content but also in form. We see here the raw materiality of the photographic process itself: the physical strip of film, the markings with a grease pencil—it all points to the labor behind creating an image. The contact sheet almost becomes a piece itself, a new readymade. Editor: It's kind of meta, right? The images show politicians doing their thing, probably very self-important stuff, but the contact sheet around those photographs makes them appear very human. Suddenly, all the process reminds you that something that pretends to be super polished takes a lot of iterations to achieve! It’s like life, no? Curator: Indeed. What I find compelling here is how it challenges our understanding of what constitutes the artwork. Is it the individual photograph, or the entire film strip complete with its imperfections and the marks of the editorial process? By revealing this labor, Frank challenges the separation between artistic creation and production. Editor: I totally get it. And it reminds me of the saying "kill your darlings". Those slashes feel brutal, in a way, like tough love in art. And even when there are some shots that someone liked (there is at least one frame completely enclosed with the grease pencil!), there is something sad about being left behind, if that makes sense? Curator: Yes, it's a really poignant visual record of selection. Think of the technology, labor, and decisions behind making the single iconic photograph. In the age of digital art, it makes you consider how it may impact the relationship between labor, production and art appreciation, maybe with new expressions to be seen! Editor: Absolutely. "Congressional V" isn’t just a photograph; it's a document of how photographs come to be. It makes you think about all the unseen effort, and the tough decisions made to create a lasting impression. Curator: A lasting impression achieved through the beautiful evidence of what didn’t make the cut!