Valencia, Spain 32 1952

Editor: We're looking at Robert Frank's "Valencia, Spain 32" from 1952, a gelatin silver print showing what looks like a contact sheet. I'm struck by how it's almost like peeking into the photographer’s process. It’s raw and unfiltered. What catches your eye? Curator: I see a photographer wrestling with a city. This sheet is more than just outtakes; it's a document of Frank's interaction with Valencia and the act of image-making itself. In post-war Europe, photography shifted towards capturing immediate realities. This sheet shows the institutional apparatus surrounding photographic documentation – it's almost like seeing behind the curtain of how 'reality' was then captured and disseminated. Does it make you think about how our understanding of places can be shaped? Editor: Definitely. Seeing those circled frames suggests deliberate choices about what to show the world, shaping public memory. It almost feels voyeuristic, like we're intruding. Do you see this rawness as a commentary on the role of the photographer? Curator: Exactly. Consider the shift in the photographer's role post-war. Were they objective documentarians, or active participants, shaping narratives through their lenses? Frank seems to be actively pushing back against the conventional modes of documentary, reflecting the uncertainty of the period. And it became incredibly influential. How do you think this format impacts how the public would view this imagery, relative to seeing a 'perfected' singular image? Editor: That’s interesting. Presenting the outtakes definitely democratizes the photographic process. We see the negotiation, the editing, the active decision-making by the photographer rather than passively looking at a pristine artwork in a gallery. I feel like I understand Frank a little bit more by seeing the ones he chose and the ones he didn’t. Curator: Absolutely, and I believe that was exactly the intention and a key intervention that still impacts photographers today. Thank you!