Guggenheim 577--near Los Gatos, California 1956

Editor: Robert Frank's "Guggenheim 577--near Los Gatos, California," a gelatin silver print from 1956, offers an intriguing contact sheet. The diverse images presented together have a certain documentary aesthetic but also make it seem strangely dreamlike. What catches your eye as you look at the images? Curator: The structural arrangement itself is quite compelling. Notice how Frank segments different scenes - interiors with the mirrors, exterior landscapes, details of architecture - almost as a typology of space. The composition denies a singular, dominant focus. How do the visual relationships between the images shape the narrative? Editor: I think, if they're sequenced according to when they were shot, there isn't really a narrative; it's almost stream-of-consciousness, jumping between different scenes without telling a specific story. Curator: Precisely. The lack of a clear narrative allows us to consider the interplay between representation and abstraction within the photographic form. Focus on the tonality and how that might add meaning, noting also the ways Frank draws circles on certain images, drawing attention and reinforcing that we are, after all, considering photographs in material form. Are they emphasizing form over content? What are you seeing now? Editor: It definitely appears the focus is the relationship of those images in total. Considering the different depths of field throughout also makes the contact sheet a work that explores the potential and flexibility of the camera and, subsequently, photography as an art form. Thank you. Curator: It shows us how Frank masterfully manipulated form to expand the expressive capacities of photography itself. I enjoyed considering this with you.