Flower cart in rain, Paris 1951

Robert Frank made this photograph of a flower cart in Paris, though the exact date is not known. There’s an immediacy to it, a looseness that feels like it's all about the moment, the process of seeing and capturing. The image is grainy, with a stark contrast that suggests a certain rawness, like a charcoal drawing. The rain seems to dissolve the scene, blurring the edges and softening the light. The flower cart itself is the focal point, but it's not presented in a straightforward way; instead, it’s shrouded in shadow and rain, a ghost of a vibrant object. I keep coming back to that hazy, indistinct quality. It’s less about the flowers and more about the feeling of a city on a rainy day. It reminds me a bit of some of the impressionist painters like Pissarro, who captured the fleeting moments of city life. Frank, though, adds a layer of grit, a sense of melancholy that feels very contemporary. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to be clear or precise. Sometimes, it’s in the ambiguity that the real beauty lies.