Nixon campaign 27 1960

Curator: Here we have Robert Frank's "Nixon Campaign 27," created in 1960 using gelatin silver print and collage techniques. It offers a glimpse into mid-century American politics, or at least, one campaign trail. What's your initial reaction? Editor: It’s chaotic, fragmented… like a series of glimpses into a reality I'm not quite sure I understand. The high-contrast, grainy quality makes it feel anxious, unsettled. All those faces. Are they hopeful, or are they just… waiting? Curator: That unsettled feeling is central to Frank’s project. He sought to challenge the idealised images of America often presented at the time. This sheet presents raw documentary truth rather than a polished piece of propaganda. You get a sense of his subjects, of the crowd’s size and the staged nature of political rallies. Editor: It's fascinating to see the strips presented this way, almost like film negatives. We are aware that this is only part of a much longer record of the time and of Nixon’s run. And he has highlighted certain images of the subject surrounded in a circle. Why those ones, I wonder? Curator: Exactly. We're given a visual reminder of photography's capacity to document and create versions of history, but in a fractured and decidedly non-heroic fashion. Seeing this contact sheet of photographs is powerful, with the visual rhythm and potential narratives. Editor: Yes. There is also an anxiety created by the medium itself. Look at those darker frames and the way that Frank has arranged those together with ones in full light to create emphasis. Even now, decades later, I cannot tell if the Nixon in that image is benevolent or threatening. Perhaps both? Curator: Indeed. "Nixon Campaign 27" offers a different kind of symbolism to the one most political leaders prefer; instead of controlled image and clear narratives, Frank gives us something closer to real human experience, a mix of anticipation, doubt, and maybe even a bit of boredom. Editor: A potent reminder that symbols, even in the form of photographs, are never neutral. Robert Frank has caught something essential about how power projects itself but also about how it is perceived by those it seeks to lead. Curator: A truly insightful comment on image-making in America in its time. Frank allows us to question that perceived and carefully-constructed American identity. Editor: Definitely something to keep in mind as we see image-making unfold, even today.