11th Street story 20 1951

Robert Frank’s “11th Street story 20” is a photo contact sheet, that shows the inherent editing process, and the ways an artist winnows their images to find the best ones. The texture isn’t just in the images but in the film strip itself, and the seriality of the grid, which is a kind of mark making in its own right. This has something in common with Warhol, who embraced a similar mechanical aesthetic, but in Frank's case, it feels more like a form of note-taking, or cataloging experience, than anything as grand as Pop Art. Look at the loop and number “20” scrawled across the first row – a kind of graffiti on the image, evidence of an active, thinking, selecting artist. Frank isn't afraid to show his working, making visible the choices and accidents that contribute to the final piece. It's like a painter leaving the brushstrokes visible, reminding us that art is something made, not just found. This piece resonates with photographers like Garry Winogrand, who documented life with a similar immediacy.