Various family S20 c. 1949 - 1950

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, 'Various family S20', using gelatin silver. What strikes me is the frankness of it – no pun intended! Each frame is a little window, not onto a scene, but onto Frank’s process. It's like seeing an artist's mind at work – a collection of outtakes and experiments. The contrast is stark, almost graphic. These aren't glossy magazine images; they’re raw, gritty, and deeply personal. Look at the little imperfections, the scratches, the way the light catches, or doesn't catch, in each frame. It reminds me a little of Moholy-Nagy's photograms, these records of things exposed to light. This piece isn’t trying to hide anything. Instead, it’s saying, “Here it is, the process, the mistakes, the journey.” And in that honesty, it finds its own weird kind of beauty.