Delegate, convention hall--Chicago 1956

Robert Frank made this photograph, "Delegate, convention hall--Chicago," using gelatin silver print, but without a known date. The gray scale, the way it captures light and shadow, feels a bit like a charcoal drawing, raw and immediate. Look at the face of the delegate in the foreground. The way the light hits his glasses, those deep lines etched around his mouth. Frank isn't smoothing anything over; he's showing us the wear and tear, the reality of being human, being involved. The depth of field, with that sea of faces behind him, blurs into an almost abstract field. Those stars are a bit like brushstrokes in an abstract painting, building up the atmosphere. Frank, who also made films, reminds me a bit of Cassavetes, both finding beauty in the everyday, the unscripted, the messy. It’s not about perfection; it’s about truth. And maybe, just maybe, a little bit of hope.