Director with technicians--Filming "Landammann Stauffacher" 1941

Curator: Oh, there's such a gorgeous quality to this gelatin-silver print! I love how Robert Frank captured this behind-the-scenes moment in 1941, titled "Director with technicians--Filming 'Landammann Stauffacher'." Editor: It definitely evokes a sense of old-world craftsmanship. But something about the arrangement of figures also suggests power dynamics, a hierarchy carefully constructed and captured. Curator: Absolutely, and there's almost a still-life quality about the bulky old camera set up. The technicians seem arranged around it. As if this archaic piece of equipment is king, but they are the life blood around the central artifact of moviemaking, each essential. And the man covering his eyes? A very vulnerable act to display publicly. Editor: And it's a very interesting paradox! Considering "Landammann Stauffacher" portrays a historical figure leading a rebellion against authoritarian rule, it begs the question of whether the film production mirrored the political atmosphere of the time in a controlled, performative kind of theater? There's the ever-present theme of censorship too, knowing it was the war time. Curator: Exactly. But that church steeple peeking up in the background gives the scene a serenity. All of them absorbed. Concentrated labor always appears dignified in images to me, like hands working clay into something profound. And it appears as if that very labor itself holds its own implicit critique? Editor: Yes. I wonder, how aware were these filmmakers, creating patriotic national myths, of the weight their choices carried, then and now? Did they, perhaps, seek refuge from what could have felt a total absence of autonomy? Curator: Maybe. Frank gives us access, perhaps more easily, into the soul of this paradox. Which makes us question, can national identity ever escape construction? Can myth avoid manipulation? I wonder. Editor: I agree, and that, ultimately, may be where the picture holds the most beauty. The film may well be full of pomp. But there, for one captured moment, so simply, is the raw ambiguity of the work.