Paris 19B 1951 - 1952

Robert Frank made "Paris 19B" using photography. It's laid out like a contact sheet, you know, those pages where you see all the possible shots from a roll of film. It’s a grid of these tiny, grainy glimpses of Paris. What strikes me is how Frank doesn't hide the process; the edges of the film are visible, the sprocket holes, even some blue grease pencil marks. It's like he’s saying, “Here’s the raw stuff of seeing.” There's this one sequence with bare trees against a bright sky, and Frank’s scribbled “19” right over it. It's so casual, like a painter marking up a canvas. It disrupts the image, sure, but it also makes it feel more immediate, more real. Frank's work reminds me of Garry Winogrand. They both had this knack for capturing the messy, unscripted moments of life. It's not about perfection; it's about honesty. And maybe a little bit of poetry.