Abercrombie & Fitch 4 1955

Robert Frank made this photographic work, Abercrombie & Fitch 4, using gelatin silver on paper. I can imagine him in his darkroom, coaxing these images to life, his hands dancing in the chemical baths. I’m drawn to the way Frank assembled these strips of film—like lines of poetry, each frame a word or phrase contributing to a larger narrative. What was he thinking as he arranged them? Was it a random act, or was he composing something deliberate? I think about the materiality of the medium: the grain of the film, the contrast between light and shadow. It gives the whole thing a sense of immediacy. Think about the bottom strip—a slice of interior life, a glimpse into a retail space. It’s the sort of non-moment that most people wouldn’t give a second thought to. I can imagine Frank, ever the observer, seeing something more in it.