Factory—Detroit 1955

This is Robert Frank’s photographic print, Factory—Detroit, made with gelatin silver. The way Frank plays with light and shadow reminds me of how a painter uses contrast to create depth. It's almost sculptural, like he's carving out the scene. Look at the textures here: the rough brick, the smooth, cylindrical bollards, and the almost ghostly figure in the background. It is this interplay of light and shadow that gives the image its emotional weight. Those vertical lines, they’re like bars, right? And the seated man seems trapped by them. I think about other artists who used photography to highlight social issues, like Dorothea Lange, but there's something more internal, more personal in Frank’s work. It’s about seeing the world, not just documenting it. Ultimately, Frank asks us to consider how we see, and what that says about the world we inhabit.