Terrace and park--New York City no number 1954

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, "Terrace and park--New York City no number," showing strips of film, a sequence of moments captured and laid bare. The greyscale gives it a documentary feel, honest, raw, and yet… it’s also beautifully composed. Look at the texture – the grain of the film, the stark contrast between light and shadow, you can almost feel the grit of the city. It feels like Frank wasn't trying to prettify anything. It's photography as process, as a way of seeing, not just a means to an end. In the middle, there's a strip of frames that are almost entirely white, ghostly. It makes you wonder what Frank was thinking, what he was trying to capture. Frank's work, like that of his contemporary Diane Arbus, embraces the everyday, the imperfect, the things we usually overlook. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be polished or perfect. Sometimes, it's the rough edges that make it real.