New York City 7 1957 - 1958

This is Robert Frank's "New York City 7", a gelatin silver print, and it’s all about how the process becomes the point. Frank lays bare the mechanics of photography; the image is the thing, but so is the making of the image. Here, the filmstrip isn't just a means to an end, it’s part of the statement, like brushstrokes in a painting. The sprocket holes, the frame numbers, they're all exposed, pushing us to consider what we usually leave unseen. The high contrast enhances the gritty reality of the scenes, heightening the sense of immediacy and the raw, unfiltered look at city life. There is a sequence with people bent over, what are they looking at? What has caught their attention? It makes me think of Warhol's screen prints, where the repetition and slight imperfections become as important as the subject itself. Frank isn't just showing us New York, he’s showing us seeing New York. It's not a clean, finished product, and that’s what makes it so alive.