Italy 11 1964

Robert Frank made this photographic work, "Italy 11," using black and white film. It’s a contact sheet, a whole roll of negatives printed as one image, a process-based way of showing images. The physical reality of the film grain gives the images a tactile quality, even though it’s a photograph. The darks are truly dark, offset against the luminous glow of the highlights. It's this contrast that gives Frank’s work so much emotional heft. Looking at the fourth row, the images of crosses silhouetted against a bright sky, it's like a visual poem. The repeated motif speaks to the weight of history and faith in Italy, but also to the repetition inherent in the photographic process. Frank, like Garry Winogrand, sees the image as a snippet of time, a fleeting moment that he captures and presents to us. Their works are less about the perfect image, and more about the act of looking, seeing and recording. They present a unique conversation, an exchange of ideas across time.