Guggenheim 93/Ford 16--Detroit 1955

This contact sheet of black and white photographs, titled "Guggenheim 93/Ford 16--Detroit" was made by Robert Frank. It's a cascade of small rectangles, each a little window into a scene, kind of like a storyboard, but more raw. The grainy texture gives everything a feeling of immediacy, a sense of being right there, in the thick of it. The composition feels really deliberate, as if Frank is making an argument about image-making itself. The repetition and variation of the frames remind me of the assembly line in the factory, creating an overall effect of a fragmented narrative. It all feels so precarious, like it could fall apart at any moment, which I guess, life can sometimes feel like that, right? I’m thinking about artists like Gerhard Richter, who also used photography as a starting point. But there’s something about Frank’s work that feels more personal, more intimate. It’s like he’s inviting us to see the world through his eyes, not telling us what to think.