Mr. and Mrs. Feiertag, Late Afternoon 1951

Robert Frank captured "Mr. and Mrs. Feiertag, Late Afternoon" with his camera, freezing a moment in time. The grainy texture of the black and white print lends a feeling of spontaneity. Look at the woman's outstretched arm, cutting through the scene like a conductor leading an orchestra of city sounds, the gesture is both assertive and ambiguous. Is she hailing a cab, or warding off the world? The angle gives us a worm’s eye view, placing us low in the car. The composition feels unstudied, like a snapshot grabbed on the fly. Frank’s work often reminds me of Walker Evans, in that he sought to capture a slice of lived experience, with an apparent lack of artifice. The rough and ready feel is what gives the picture its power. It doesn't try to be perfect. Art is about seeing, and this picture invites us to look. There’s no one way to read it.