Willem de Kooning 5 1961

Robert Frank made this contact sheet, ‘Willem de Kooning 5’, using photography, to capture something of the painter in his later years. It's all about framing; how he chooses to show us the artist, and who he chooses to show him with. The black and white images gives the work a grainy, unpolished feel, like a memory. Look at the way the light falls on the subjects, creating a sort of intimate, yet detached observation. There's a raw quality to the photography, that puts you right there in the room with them. In one strip we see a child, maybe a grandchild, and the artist. The composition draws you in, and their interaction seems to bring a different side of the older artist to the fore. It reminds me a little of Gerhard Richter's portraits – capturing something fleeting and real, rather than a posed idea of the sitter. It feels very human, doesn't it? A quiet, thoughtful moment, captured in monochrome.