Two boys--Children 1941 - 1945

Robert Frank took this photograph of two children, probably sometime in the mid-20th century, with a small camera and black and white film. The first boy looks down, maybe at the wet ground, or maybe he’s lost in thought. The second boy has pulled his coat over his head; his face is hidden and he looks so sad. It's a tiny image, but there's so much emotion packed into this small frame. I imagine Frank, with his camera, seeing something in these kids that resonated with him, a kind of melancholy or vulnerability. Look at how the light falls on the wet pavement, and the way the background fades into a blurry grey. Frank was a master of capturing these fleeting moments, these slices of life that are both ordinary and profound. I think of other photographers like Helen Levitt or Garry Winogrand, who were also drawn to the streets and the people they encountered there. There's a real conversation happening between these artists. They remind us to pay attention, to see the beauty and the sadness in the everyday.