Guggenheim 114/Americans 16--New York City 1955

This is a photographic contact sheet by Robert Frank, part of his series called The Americans, probably made sometime in the 1950s in New York City. Looking at this thing, I imagine Frank walking around the city with his camera, a small, handheld 35mm, capturing snippets of life. There's a rhythm here, a pace. Each frame is a quick jab, a visual note jotted down. You can see the material quality of the film, the sprocket holes lining the edges of the images. There are crowds of people, mostly men in hats. Like frames from a movie, each image offers a micro-narrative. I can imagine Frank in the darkroom, developing the film, holding it up to the light. He crops, he edits, he selects. He might have thought of Cartier-Bresson and his decisive moment, and I am sure he looked at Walker Evans. These artists are all in dialogue, their work building upon each other, creating a rich visual language.