Guggenheim 12--funeral, Carolinas 1955

Robert Frank’s photographic contact sheet shows what looks like several strips of 35mm film, printed in black and white. I look at these strips and think about the many pictures that Frank must have taken to get the ones he wanted. They are like sketches that show Frank thinking through the act of photographing a funeral. You see, photography is also a physical medium. It has its own textures and surfaces like paint. The dark space that surrounds the images on this contact sheet makes me feel something. The sequence of images shows a kind of movement through the landscape, and it made me think about other photographers who are also experimenting with seriality such as Duane Michals, or the photo books of Ed Ruscha. There is a common thread; artists teach each other. They show each other how to feel, how to think.