11th Street story 60/People You Don't See 7 1951

Editor: This is Robert Frank’s gelatin silver print, "11th Street story 60/People You Don't See 7," created in 1951. It's a contact sheet, with many images laid out together. I notice these repeating motifs – children and endless stacks of boxes. How do you interpret this work, especially its recurring symbols? Curator: Frank presents us with potent symbols of post-war America. The children, repeated in several frames, represent innocence and perhaps a burgeoning future, but observe their positioning amongst the rigid geometry of the stacked boxes. These aren’t playful blocks. Editor: They’re almost overwhelming. Do you think that juxtaposition is intentional? Curator: Absolutely. The boxes are symbols themselves, likely signifying commerce, mass production, perhaps even the material burden of societal expectations. They create a labyrinthine environment. Consider the title too, "People You Don't See". It provokes a cultural awareness. What cultural narratives about post-war America might these symbols be referencing or challenging? Editor: Maybe it’s about the loss of individuality within a consumerist society. These people, these children, become almost invisible, swallowed up by… stuff. Curator: Precisely! And don't forget Frank was an outsider, a Swiss immigrant. That lends a different perspective, a critical eye towards the American Dream, a land of opportunity potentially becoming a landscape of overwhelming consumption. Editor: That makes a lot of sense. Seeing the cultural context through the repetition of these simple images changes everything. Thanks for opening my eyes. Curator: Indeed, these photographic symbols present how we see, how we understand, and perhaps, how we begin to change it. A photograph remembers for us, so that we can remember forward.