Group leaving church--Iowa 1956

Robert Frank captured this image of a group leaving church in Iowa with his camera, probably sometime in the 1950s. Frank wasn't about slick surfaces; he embraced the grain, the grit, the realness of the moment. It’s like a painting where the artist leaves the underpainting visible, showing you the raw bones of the composition. Look at the way the light hits the figures, especially the woman in the front with the purse. It's soft, almost melancholic. The greyscale flattens everyone out and transforms it into a scene full of similar-looking figures, each holding an accessory that tells us about their place in the community, like their little badges. Frank reminds me a bit of Walker Evans, in the way he captured America without romanticizing it, only he’s rougher around the edges. Both seem to say that life is messy, beautiful, and complicated, all at the same time. Art is an open conversation, constantly echoing and responding.