Card players--Wyoming 1956

Robert Frank made this photograph, Card Players--Wyoming, at an unknown date, probably using a small handheld camera. It's got that snapshot feel, like he just walked into the room, snapped the photo, and left. Look at the painting hanging above the card game. It looks like a landscape, but it’s hard to tell. The light in the photo is dim, and the hats of the card players throw everything into shadow. I imagine Frank wanted to capture a sense of place, a feeling of being in a small town in Wyoming. It feels melancholic and real. I can almost hear the shuffling of the cards, the quiet murmur of voices, the clink of glasses. Frank was a master of capturing the everyday, of finding beauty in the mundane. I like how the painting in the background mirrors the real life scene.