Early New York City no number c. 1949

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, "Early New York City no number," using a camera and film, sometime during his long career. What you’re seeing is not just a collection of images, but a record of Frank’s process, a kind of index of moments. The texture here is inherent in the photographic medium - the grain of the film, the stark contrasts of light and shadow. Look at the frames of children, their faces full of life. And above them, a row of images turned upside down, maybe accidentally, maybe not, but which reminds us that seeing is always a process of interpretation. It's about how we flip things around to make sense of them. There's a casualness to it that suggests an intuitive, searching eye, and I think that spirit of exploration is what makes Frank's work so compelling, it's this sense of perpetual seeking. It reminds me a little bit of Garry Winogrand, another street photographer who wasn't afraid to just shoot, shoot, shoot and see what happens. Ultimately, art is about that kind of open-ended inquiry, letting the world surprise you, and then finding ways to share that surprise with others.