Guggenheim 753--New Haven, Connecticut 1956

Curator: Robert Frank's "Guggenheim 753--New Haven, Connecticut," created in 1956. What strikes me most is the density of images here. Like contact sheets wrestling for attention. Editor: There is a formal feeling to this-- almost severe and distant in mood. A lot of order being maintained in the shots shown, but some interesting randomness here too, wouldn't you say? Curator: Absolutely. Frank's known for his ability to find those poignant moments of authenticity amidst constructed realities. Each frame feels like a little poem, you can piece the meaning with some interpretation. Editor: Well, each poem, in gelatin-silver, adds to the overall sense of the post-war American dream…at least, a specific slice of it: academic accomplishment, community, maybe a touch of…institutional pressure? Curator: Oh, absolutely. There's this tension, isn't there, between the individual and the institution in so much of Frank's work. What makes a society and is its aim true to the citizen, or something else entirely. And this captures the beginning in many ways of all of those conflicts. Editor: Definitely! The way Frank captures those faces... They feel studied but natural and unstilted as they reflect this controlled environment—mortarboards, banners... the architectural elements loom large too.. I see this and start thinking of power and authority! Curator: You have me looking in a different way now! It is so true; those stark buildings framing these intimate moments make it feel staged, too perfect to not consider how the very setting has orchestrated its image. This dance between order and chaos. Editor: That dance, as you call it, is really something. Looking at these various stages laid out. Graduation, a landmark in one’s own timeline of imposed milestones… that really stands out here and then moves your thinking in a new direction. Curator: Right! Which raises, maybe, bigger questions about this very traditional picture. What rituals do we accept without truly looking? I love it when art does this! Makes me think. Editor: Agreed, completely. It’s hard to look away; makes one ponder those milestones to come.