Guggenheim 352--Houston, Texas 1955

This is Robert Frank’s contact sheet, “Guggenheim 352--Houston, Texas.” We can see a sequence of images, a world emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Frank here. Photography is a search for meaning and coherence from the chaos of the world. The contrast is high, the blacks are deep and the highlights pop, there is no grey here. Look at the grain, the texture, and the physicality of the medium. It shapes our experience. Think about Frank's eye, his framing, his way of capturing a moment, and how that communicates feeling. What was he thinking when he made these pictures? He reminds me of other photographers such as Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus. They all were in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Artists are always embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.