Cotton harvesters--Arkansas 1955

This is Robert Frank's photograph, "Cotton Harvesters--Arkansas", a silver gelatin print. It's a photo with high contrast, printed in black and white, and seeing it now, I wonder what it was like to be Frank, to lift the camera to his eye and record what he saw. The cotton harvesters are captured in a moment of quiet dignity amidst what must have been grueling work, and the image tells a story of labor, humanity, and the gaze of the artist. What I’m drawn to is the composition and the faces. Each figure, a study in texture and tone. Light and shadow are used to give us a gritty realism. There’s a certain openness, a kind of melancholic feeling, I would say. Perhaps it is Frank’s way of capturing the world as he saw it, and then sharing this with us. It's all about how Frank saw things, how he felt, and how those feelings ended up on paper. Every artist is in conversation with those who have come before, and I think Frank’s photographs continue to speak to new generations of artists today.