Cowboys no number 1954

This is Robert Frank's photographic work 'Cowboys no number', and what we are looking at here is the film reel itself. I love seeing artists’ raw materials. A painter’s studio can be more revealing than their finished paintings. We see all the mess, all the mistakes, the abandoned paths. It’s the same with this film reel. I imagine Frank walking the streets, framing and shooting, advancing the film, capturing a moment, then another and another. These cowboys appear in multiple frames, moving through cityscapes. They're like ghosts haunting Frank's film. Each frame, with its subtle shifts in light and composition, tells a different story. The physicality of the film itself—the grain, the sprocket holes—adds another layer of texture and meaning. It reminds us that art is not just about the image, but also about the process, the materials, and the artist's hand. Frank's work invites us to see the world in a new way, and challenges us to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty.