Guggenheim 536--Los Angeles 1955 - 1956

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, Guggenheim 536--Los Angeles. It's a small black and white gelatin silver print showing several rows of images. It’s so process-oriented, isn’t it? A behind-the-scenes look at image-making, with all the seams showing. I’m really drawn to the variety of images across the sheet. There are diners, interiors, people in cars. They feel a little like film stills, little snippets of life caught in the act. What I love about Frank's work, and about photography in general, is how it can capture so much with so little. Just look at the second row, those silhouettes in the diner. It could be Edward Hopper! The whole thing is like a visual diary, maybe a bit like my sketchbooks. It reminds me that art is about exploration, about capturing something real and raw, and letting the process lead you where it may.