Guggenheim 589--San Francisco c. 1956

This is Robert Frank's "Guggenheim 589--San Francisco", a contact sheet of black and white photographs. It’s like a painter’s color chart, but instead of hues, Frank lays out a range of urban observations. I love how this work emphasizes photography as a process. Each frame contains unique shapes and arrangements of light and shadow. The contact sheet form invites us to consider the sequence, the rhythm of looking, and the editing process. The grayscale tonality emphasizes the texture and contrast. Look at the frames where Frank is inside. There is a certain level of grain and blur, where the outside street scenes, with their crisp edges, offer another perspective. The composition invites us to consider the relationship between the photographer, the camera, and the world. It reminds me a little of the work of Garry Winogrand. Ultimately, Frank embraces the ambiguity and invites us to participate in a form of visual thinking, a flow of perception.