Theater--Hollywood 68 1958

Robert Frank's "Theater--Hollywood 68" is a photographic contact sheet marked with red pen. I imagine the darkroom as Frank selected, cropped, and marked up these images. There is a tangible editing process. Thinking of the gesture of the red pen, I am reminded that marks and annotations are a big part of filmmaking. Maybe this photographic approach, where you see the frames lined up, relates more to that world than the still photograph. As a painter, I think about the way the image is built up through layers. Here the photographic layering is more literal. There’s an almost architectural element as our eye moves up and down the image. You can even see the name of the film stock. This is the beauty of working with materials: the way the process is revealed. It connects this image to so many artists across time, all of us figuring stuff out and building on what came before.