London 58 1952 - 1953

Robert Frank captured this series of images on film in London, maybe around 1958. It is the film strip itself, presented as a kind of map of a time and place. The high contrast black and white gives the scene a kind of grainy intensity, which, for me, evokes the feel of the city itself. Each frame is a fragment, a moment, yet together they build a bigger picture. Look closely at the handwritten ‘58’ scrawled onto the film; a reminder of the artist's presence, his hand in the process. I love how Frank embraces the imperfections, the graininess, the blur. He's not trying to hide the process; he's making it part of the story. It reminds me of someone like Garry Winogrand, capturing the chaos of everyday life with a raw, unfiltered eye. It’s not about perfection, it’s about feeling. And for me, this piece is all about feeling.