Vendors in snow, Paris 1951

Robert Frank made this photograph using black and white film. It shows vendors in a snow-covered Paris street. I wonder what Frank was thinking when he pressed the shutter? Was he trying to capture a moment in time, the everyday life of people just trying to make a living despite the weather? I imagine him trying to capture the scene quickly, before the moment vanishes, not wanting to intrude. The light is diffused and soft, giving everything a ghostly kind of quality. The tonal range feels so carefully calibrated, creating depth and texture within the grayscale. There's a stillness here, despite all the figures moving through the shot. You know, this reminds me a little bit of some of the street photography by Helen Levitt – a similar concern with the poetry of ordinary life. Photography, like painting, is about seeing, feeling, and responding to the world. Each artist adds their voice, their own unique way of seeing, to the ongoing dialogue of art.