Arrival of the Queen--London 1 1952 - 1953

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, "Arrival of the Queen--London 1," sometime in the mid-20th century. It's a contact sheet, meaning that the images are the same size as the negative, and it shows us his process: he's working something out, maybe telling a story. What strikes me is the contrast between the individual and the crowd. Look at the frames with a few figures in top hats. Then, look at the rows and rows of people. The faces are just a sea of white dots. Even in the frames where faces are visible, they are not looking at us. They are looking towards the Queen, a collective gaze. The grainy texture of the image adds to this feeling of distance and anonymity. Frank seems to be saying something about the nature of power, the individual versus the collective, and the way we look, or don't look, at each other. It reminds me of Winogrand, street photography, but maybe with a darker mood. It's open-ended.