Mr. and Mrs. Feiertag, Late Afternoon 1951

Robert Frank made this photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Feiertag in the late afternoon, we don't know exactly when, using black and white film. What was it like to be Robert Frank, hanging out in New York, making pictures? This photo is full of mystery, intrigue, and a certain kind of New York ennui. The couple sits in a convertible, seemingly stuck in traffic, and a dog peeps out from the back seat. Mrs. Feiertag gestures out the open car, perhaps hailing a cab or pointing at something we can’t see. Is it a wave goodbye or a gesture of exasperation? Frank was good at capturing what’s in between, what’s unspoken. There’s a whole narrative hinted at in this image, but left unresolved. I think about Garry Winogrand and his street photography, the way he also captured fleeting moments of city life. Artists are always in conversation, riffing off each other’s ideas. And here, Frank leaves us with questions instead of answers, which is often the most interesting place to be.