Peru, page 6 1948

Robert Frank made this photographic portrait, sometime in his travels around Peru. What strikes me is how the portrait is only half there, as if the man is edging out of the frame, or perhaps only half present. The photograph is printed on a sheet, maybe from a notepad, with a line of perforations running down the side – you can almost feel the paper and imagine tearing the page. The man’s face is caught in sharp focus, the light catching the lenses of his glasses, reflecting an urban scene, so we see the world he sees. The other half is empty – an invitation to imagine the broader context. Frank’s work reminds me of Walker Evans, but with a rawer, more immediate feel. Both find beauty in the everyday. It’s like a conversation, each building on the other's insights. Art’s never really finished. It just keeps evolving.