Dock 1941 - 1945

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print called Dock, and wow, it's like a memory fading into mist. The tonality is beautiful, a study in grays, from the pearly sky to the dark, almost gothic plume of smoke rising from the boat. I can imagine Frank squinting into the viewfinder, trying to capture not just a scene, but a feeling. The dock itself is this skeletal structure reaching out, a fragile connection between land and water, like a metaphor for the fleeting nature of experience. It reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter's blurred photos that are like paintings. Both of them share this interest in ambiguity, this understanding that what we see is always mediated, always a little bit out of reach. Frank is in conversation with painters and photographers, all grappling with how to represent the world, how to distill a moment into something that resonates beyond its surface appearance. It's a reminder that art is never really finished, always evolving, always open to new interpretations.