Saint Patrick's Day parade--New York City 5 17 - 1958

Robert Frank’s photographic film strip, documenting a Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York City, gives us a sense of the artist's process. The series of frames, arranged in rows, are a bit like a storyboard, showing a progression of moments. The high contrast black and white palette gives the images a documentary feel, and yet the compositions are full of interesting details, like the tuba player's horn, or the car on a trailer in the background. In one frame you see what appears to be men wearing band uniform, the high-contrast, grainy film adding a palpable sense of texture to the dark wool of their clothing. Frank’s work, like that of his contemporary, Garry Winogrand, is often associated with street photography and the aesthetics of the snapshot. Like painting, photography is a form that embraces ambiguity, a space for ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas.