Guggenheim 404--Las Vegas, Nevada, to Los Angeles 1955

This is Robert Frank’s photographic contact sheet, ‘Guggenheim 404—Las Vegas, Nevada, to Los Angeles’. Here, Frank arranges multiple frames on a single sheet, the images rendered in stark black and white, punctuated by red and blue editing marks. The composition is fragmented, disrupting any singular narrative, evoking a sense of disjointed travel. Frank’s selection process becomes part of the artwork. The red circles and blue crosses are not mere corrections but assertive gestures, drawing attention to the act of seeing and deciding. This self-reflexivity is key. Influenced by post-structuralist thought, Frank challenges the idea of a definitive reading, presenting photography as a subjective construction. The sequence of images, from desolate landscapes to intimate portraits, destabilizes conventional notions of space and representation. In its fragmented form, this contact sheet invites us to question the very nature of photographic truth. The editing marks and the overall composition become performative, highlighting the medium's capacity to create meaning through selection and arrangement.