Embarkation--New York City no number 1955

This photographic work by Robert Frank, *Embarkation--New York City no number*, offers a multi-frame view of a crowd in monochrome. I like to imagine Frank prowling around that ship, all stealthy, shooting roll after roll. You can see the whole thing, the sprocket holes and everything, like a painter using the whole tube of paint, every last bit. The man's up to something: is he a painter or reporter? The frames undulate from light to dark, with the ghostly negatives at the bottom. I'm thinking, what was it like to be there? The mood feels tense, a little claustrophobic, the people pressed together, embarking on a journey, but to where, we don’t know. It reminds me of the painter Philip Guston who documented his life through cartoonish figures and objects, and how we are always in dialogue with the past as we go forward. There are so many ways of seeing, so many ways of feeling. Artists are magpies, collecting and transforming the world around us.