Mike Seeger 1958 - 1959

Robert Frank made this black and white photograph of musician Mike Seeger. It’s a gelatin silver print, a process that involves coating paper with light-sensitive silver halides. This technique, prevalent in the mid-20th century, allowed for nuanced tonal ranges and sharp details, which you can see in the texture of Seeger’s shirt and the weathered brick behind him. Frank’s choice of this medium is significant; it places the work within a longer history of photographic practice, even as his approach was anything but traditional. It also contrasts the modern, streamlined aesthetics of the mid-century with a more handmade, artisanal feel. In addition, it is worth noting that the silver used to produce these photographs was extracted via an intense mining industry that utilized cheap labor in order to make the materials affordable. By understanding the materials and processes behind ‘Mike Seeger,’ we can appreciate how Frank’s image participates in both the art world, as well as the social and cultural context of its time.