Guggenheim 544--Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena, and Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California 1955 - 1956

This is Robert Frank’s “Guggenheim 544--Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena, and Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California,” a photo contact sheet, which is really just a process, a document of a way of working, a set of decisions made on the go. The whole thing is just different shades of gray, from light to dark and back again. It has such a gritty feel; you can almost feel the texture of the paper and the chemicals used to develop the film. Look at the strip toward the bottom, where he’s circled some of the images. They seem to show grave stones in a cemetery. It’s very intimate. And isn’t it interesting to see all these different views together? It’s like Frank is saying that life and death are all part of the same picture, all part of the same process. This reminds me of the way Gerhard Richter painted from photographs, turning something supposedly ‘real’ into an image that's abstract and a little bit haunted. It makes you realize that art isn't just about capturing reality, but about creating a conversation about how we see the world.