Allan Kaprow's party 4 1957

Here’s Robert Frank’s ‘Allan Kaprow’s party 4’, a photographic contact sheet, with lots of little images made into one big image. Looking at this, I get a sense of Frank being in the thick of it, trying to capture Kaprow's vibe. The photos feel spontaneous, capturing the energy of the happening – a party, a performance. You can imagine Frank moving around, intuitively snapping shots, trying to catch the essence of the moment. I think the quick, unposed shots are like little brushstrokes. I can imagine Frank trying to show the world through this one performance. It's a slice of life, a fleeting moment captured with a raw, unflinching eye. The contact sheet has the casual spontaneity of Cy Twombly, and a similar interest in process. Frank captures something beyond just the event, a feeling, a mood, a sense of being present. I see this kind of work as being like a conversation between artists, a call and response across mediums and generations, all feeding into the great, ongoing exploration of what it means to be human.