Paris 33 1959

Robert Frank made ‘Paris 33’, a gelatin silver print, sometime during his time in Paris. Looking at this contact sheet, it feels less like a finished piece and more like a glimpse into Frank's process, the kind of behind-the-scenes stuff that usually stays hidden. The grainy blacks and whites, the way the images are sequenced, it all points to a raw, unfiltered view of the world. There is a wonderful cinematic quality, too, the way the different frames capture gestures and movements. I'm drawn to the sequence in the second row, a car being lifted in the air; each frame captures a slightly different angle, a different moment in time. It reminds me that art isn't about capturing a single, perfect image, it’s about seeing and thinking. Frank seems to be in conversation with photographers like Walker Evans, but pushing things in his own direction. Art is just this ongoing conversation.