From the bus 5 1958

Robert Frank shot this contact sheet, ‘From the bus 5’, using a 35mm camera to capture the world outside a bus window. Look at the grainy texture, a result of the photographic process itself. It’s a reminder that art is often about embracing the imperfect, finding beauty in the raw materials. There’s a frame about halfway down, highlighted in red, showing figures crossing the road. The blur hints at movement, at fleeting moments of connection. The high contrast of Frank's monochrome palette gives the scene a timeless feel, but also a sense of urgency, like a memory half-forgotten, half-recalled. It makes me think of the way surfaces in old photographs can remind us about mortality. Frank's work reminds me of Walker Evans, but with a more personal, almost diaristic feel. Both artists used photography to capture the everyday, but Frank brought a sense of intimacy and vulnerability that was all his own. Art is a conversation, a way of seeing and being seen.