Man in peep show--Los Angeles c. 1955 - 1956

Here’s a photograph by Robert Frank called *Man in peep show—Los Angeles*. I'm always curious about what pulls an artist to make the work they do. What was it like to walk into a peep show in LA, and instead of looking *at* the images, to turn and look at the person looking? Maybe Frank felt like the real story was the solitary figure next to the machine, and that the vulnerability of looking, of *desiring,* was more revealing than whatever was on offer in the show itself. The composition feels kind of awkward, unresolved. The man's face is hidden, but his posture speaks volumes. What is he feeling? Curiosity? Shame? Loneliness? Frank captures a kind of melancholy that hovers in the air. The high contrast of the black and white adds to the sense of alienation and unease. For me, photographs are paintings. They are a way of seeing, a conversation about life, art, and being human.