Horse show opening 9 1954

Robert Frank made this photographic filmstrip, Horse show opening 9, with his camera. Looking at these rows of images, it makes me think about the art of seeing. What did Frank see through the camera lens? The repetition, the sequencing... it's like a visual poem. I imagine him moving and watching, trying to get the shot he wants. The light is tricky here. He must have been thinking about light, and shadow, about what it reveals and what it obscures. He circles one image with a red pencil, a way of selecting and isolating. It becomes a narrative of its own. These marks, erasures, and re-imaginings are all part of his artistic process. Just like the artist Cy Twombly, Frank invites us to engage with the raw, unfiltered aspects of creation. I see Frank having conversations with other photographers and artists through time. It’s all part of the same big game.