Guggenheim 591--San Francisco c. 1956

This is a contact sheet by Robert Frank, probably made with a camera and a darkroom, of course. It presents a whole slew of images at once, a kind of cinematic array of moments which reminds me of the way painters lay down multiple marks on a canvas, allowing each to inform the others. I can see, for example, the texture of the film itself, the sprocket holes that let light in, and the way the images seem to float on the surface of the paper. Each frame is a small window onto a different scene. My eye is drawn to the variety of spaces, from barbershops to busy streets, each captured with a sort of casual intimacy. And what about that frame in the bottom right, the one circled in red, where a barber is cutting someone’s hair. It suggests a close relationship, a moment of trust and care. It’s not unlike the work of Garry Winogrand, who seemed to see New York City as a giant, never-ending movie set. Like any great work, this piece embraces ambiguity, inviting us to find our own stories within its frames.