Swiss flag on mountain peak, Arosa 1943 - 1944

Robert Frank took this silver gelatin print, ‘Swiss flag on mountain peak, Arosa,’ sometime during his life, before his death in 2019. I love the tonal range of this small black and white photograph. I think about Frank alone on the mountain top, searching through the viewfinder, waiting for the right moment. It’s as though the flag, the marker, and the peak all become metaphors for something. He's making a monument to something - what is it? Maybe it's simply being present. I wonder, was he thinking about other photographers? Did he know what he was searching for? This composition is a study in contrasts: the crisp flag against the bleak, boundless sky. Look at the placement of the flag, off-centre, giving an edginess to the composition. Frank, like all of us, was in conversation with what came before. Each artist builds on the foundations laid by others, interpreting, challenging, and expanding the language of art. Photography, like painting, is about seeing and feeling the world in new ways. It’s a testament to the power of art to provoke thought, emotion, and a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world.