Puerto Rico 2 1959

Robert Frank's "Puerto Rico 2" presents strips of black and white film, recording a visual journey. The frames are like little windows. Film, like paint, is a process medium. It's about capturing light, time, and moments as they unfold. Look at how Frank presents the film strip itself, the physical material, rather than hiding it. The texture of the film, the sprocket holes, they all become part of the experience. In one strip, you can see images of people gathered outdoors, maybe a celebration or a market scene. Then, there's another strip showing someone sitting alone, eating at a table indoors. These juxtapositions, they create a sense of contrast, of different worlds existing side by side. Frank, like other photographers of the mid-century, like Helen Levitt, was interested in the poetry of everyday life. He was not trying to tell us what to think, more like, showing us how to see. It's up to us to make sense of it. Isn’t that what life is about?