Wardrobe--Hollywood 76 1958

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, called 'Wardrobe--Hollywood 76', probably in a darkroom. The images are mostly greyscale, though the clear film gives it a slight sepia tone. I'm struck by the way Frank uses seriality, repeating images and themes across the frame. It reminds me of working in the studio, how a single idea can be explored in a multitude of ways through repetition and variation. The composition feels almost musical, like a visual score, with each frame a note in a larger melody. I love the way the sprocket holes ground the images in a very real way, reminding us of the materiality of film and the photographic process. Frank's contact sheet puts me in mind of the seriality of Warhol's screenprints, and the obsessive mark making of Agnes Martin. Like these artists, Frank invites us to consider art as a process of ongoing investigation, where meaning emerges through repetition, variation, and the embrace of chance.