Convention 22 1956

Robert Frank created "Convention 22" using photography. The overall arrangement presents a series of images in a celluloid strip, a format central to photography’s intrinsic nature. The stark contrast of black and white emphasizes texture and form, lending a documentary feel. The strip shows many images with gatherings of people, interspersed with intermediate pictures such as papers spread on a table, and a studio. These images, while appearing random, function as a visual language to convey ideas. The high-contrast presentation of these scenes, organized linearly, engages with semiotic systems, allowing viewers to interpret a range of meanings through their arrangement. The composition destabilizes conventional notions of narrative and challenges viewers to create their own narrative from its sequence of images. This approach underscores the idea that meaning is not fixed but is continuously constructed through the act of viewing and interpreting, transforming the photograph into a discourse on representation itself.