40 Fotos, page 15 1946

Robert Frank made this photograph, titled 40 Fotos, page 15. It's got this rhythmic repetition of images, each framed in a circle, like looking through a vintage lens onto a memory. I imagine him, maybe in his darkroom, surrounded by the scent of chemicals, thinking about how images multiply and reflect. What does it mean to see something over and over? Does it become clearer, or does it fade into abstraction? He’s playing with layers, literally and conceptually. Each circle contains the words 'FOTO' and 'FILM', a kind of echo chamber of photography itself. It reminds me of Rauschenberg’s silkscreens, that same impulse to collage and repeat, questioning originality, and celebrating the everyday. It’s like Frank is telling us that seeing isn’t just about looking, it’s about how we frame what we see, how we repeat it in our minds, and how we find new meanings in the familiar. Artists are always in dialogue, riffing off each other, pushing the boundaries of perception.