Guggenheim 622--San Francisco c. 1956

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, Guggenheim 622--San Francisco, using black and white film. It's like a series of sketches, a visual diary. The graininess, the high contrast, it's all part of the process, a way of seeing that’s immediate and unfiltered. Looking at the composition, it's all about capturing snippets of life. A diner, people on a bench, a car interior. It’s not about perfection, but about feeling. The texture is rough, raw. It gives a sense of immediacy, like he's grabbing these moments right out of the air. In the middle row, there are these three frames with blurry shapes, almost like a dream. They interrupt the other more narrative frames, and create a rhythm to the piece. Frank's influence can be seen in the work of Nan Goldin, another artist who uses photography to document everyday life with honesty and vulnerability. With his work, Frank reminds us that art can be found in the simplest of moments, and in seeing the world through an open lens.