Peru, page 25 1948

This photograph titled ‘Peru, page 25’ was captured by Robert Frank, who, like many artists, took himself on a journey. Just look at the composition, it is full of contrasts. The boy and the bowl fill the right half of the frame; the left side is bare, allowing space for the gaze. I wonder if he considered how the boy's face, turned upwards, meets our own gaze. This, against the backdrop of a simple metal tub, almost implies a baptism. When I look at this image I think about what it might have been like to be Robert Frank, traveling through Peru, camera in hand. Was he thinking about Cartier-Bresson's decisive moment? Or was he simply trying to capture something real, something true, about the lives of the people he encountered? Frank had an uncanny ability to see beyond the surface and capture the emotional core of a moment. That takes a lot of courage and empathy.