Paris 3 1960

Robert Frank made this photographic work, called Paris 3, with film and chemicals and light. This is a strip of images, like a painter's palette, where the residue of making is part of the work. Look at the variety of tones in the grey scale and the imperfections that are part of the photographic process - light leaks, scratches and dust. This reminds me of how a painter might leave drips and smudges on the canvas. See how some of the images are circled, these are like notes to himself, places where Frank has paused and marked what is important. The red pen feels like a painter's gesture; like drawing, which is a form of thinking. Frank leaves us a record of his decisions, his process, and his way of seeing the world. It reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter’s series of Atlas photographs. Photography, like painting, is not just about the image, but about the messy, human process of image making.