Glider, Zurich 1942 - 1945

Robert Frank made this photographic print, Glider, Zurich, using gelatin silver. It's a small picture, almost pocket-sized. The tones are muted, tending towards grey and the image feels soft and a little blurry. There's a real sense of atmosphere. The thing I find most compelling is how the glider seems to be resting, surrounded by people, almost like a grounded bird. The wings stretch out, cutting across the landscape, bisecting the space between earth and sky. It's as though Frank is trying to capture a moment of stillness, a pause in the everyday. Frank’s pictures always feel very personal, and un-staged and the grittiness reminds me a little of painters like Gustave Courbet, in that they both present the world as they find it. The beauty here lies in the simplicity and the artist's eye for capturing something fleeting and real. It feels like a memory, faded but still vivid.