Guggenheim 451--Beverly Hills, California 1955 - 1956

Robert Frank made this contact sheet, a collection of his photographs, in Beverly Hills, California. Look closely at the image of the contact sheet itself, how the various images are set against the black. The composition has a quality of immediacy, but it’s also carefully arranged. Frank’s images feel raw, but there’s a formal sensibility, a painterly eye at play. There’s a tension in the way Frank’s images are slightly out of focus, grainy, or off-kilter. It’s like he’s pushing against the slickness and perfection often associated with photography. I love the way Frank embraces imperfection. Think of Garry Winogrand's street photography or the films of the French New Wave, Frank was part of a generation that questioned conventional ways of seeing, always embracing ambiguity over easy answers.