Mary and Andrea in hospital IV 1954

Robert Frank made this work, *Mary and Andrea in hospital IV,* with gelatin silver on paper. It’s a photo strip – a whole bunch of images strung together, like a film roll that hasn’t been cut up yet. It makes me think about the passage of time – like when you’re waiting for something, anything, to happen. It's giving me snapshots of life, with these people waiting in bed, watching the world go by outside their window. Do you ever get the feeling, you're stuck inside, while life carries on without you? Frank has given a glimpse into that kind of moment. The photos capture something very simple and relatable: being stuck somewhere, feeling vulnerable, and looking for a way out. I think about how artists look to each other all the time, to get ideas. Frank’s work is like a conversation, where some things get said out loud, and others are felt more than seen. It’s as if the images are whispering to each other, but we are not let in on the secret.