Dress shop--Los Angeles 1956

Robert Frank made this photograph, 'Dress shop--Los Angeles', at an unspecified date, and with his camera he’s not just recording, he’s *composing*. The way the light falls, it almost feels like a stage set, doesn’t it? There’s a mannequin, front and center, draped in fur. And behind, a couple of figures, caught in a moment of conversation, or maybe they're just posing. They're all swathed in these luxurious furs. What's interesting to me is the flatness, the way the tones flatten the image. There's not much depth, but the texture is all there. The smooth, reflective glass, the nubbly furs. Look at the way the light hits the flowers, how they almost glow against the muted background. It reminds me a bit of Diane Arbus, that same unflinching gaze, that ability to find the strange and beautiful in the everyday. Ultimately, photographs like this invite us to see the world a little differently, to find the poetry in the mundane.