Guggenheim 361--Houston, Texas 1955

Robert Frank made this photograph, Guggenheim 361--Houston, Texas, sometime during his career, using photographic materials. What strikes me first is the film strip; it's a kind of process laid bare, revealing the artist's eye as it moves through the world. There’s a rawness here, a non-preciousness. I love the immediacy of the thing, the way Frank lets us see the seams. Look at the strip where we can see rows of men in suits. It’s a sea of backs, a kind of faceless uniformity. What I find compelling is how this one strip embodies a larger narrative about identity and conformity. The composition is a study in contrasts, light and dark, presence and absence, reflecting, perhaps, the artist’s own searching gaze. It reminds me of something like Gerhard Richter's explorations of photography. It’s about embracing the in-between spaces, the ambiguities and multiple readings.