Guggenheim 610--Westlake and San Francisco c. 1956

This is a contact sheet from Robert Frank, taken somewhere around Westlake and San Francisco. It’s raw and full of these little moments, like sketches, the kind I make in my studio when I’m trying to figure something out. Look at the surface of the sheet, these rows of images. Each little rectangle is its own world, but together they make a bigger story. Frank isn't hiding anything, like he's showing us how he sees. The light and dark are intense, almost harsh, like the California sun. I keep coming back to the way he frames things, cutting off heads or catching people mid-stride. It’s like life, messy and unfinished. It reminds me of Garry Winogrand, another photographer who wasn’t afraid to get close and capture the chaos. Photography and artmaking is about the process of seeing, not just the final product.