Guggenheim 614--Westlake, California c. 1956

Robert Frank’s “Guggenheim 614--Westlake, California” is a photographic contact sheet, a kind of raw material, a behind-the-scenes peek at the editing process. The texture here is built from the grainy black and white film. It feels immediate, like a document, not overly fussed with. Look at how the strips are organized, the images lined up like little windows into another world. One strip shows the backs of houses receding into the distance, electric poles puncturing the sky like lonely exclamation points, and on another strip you can see what looks like a supermarket interior. Frank’s use of seriality reminds me of work by Bernd and Hilla Becher, who photographed industrial structures. These images are like building blocks, snippets of everyday life that Frank is piecing together. There's something about seeing the process laid bare that makes the work feel incredibly honest, and open. It reminds us that art isn't just about the final product, but about the journey of seeing, selecting, and making sense of the world around us.