Filming Elia Kazan's "Wild River"--Tennessee 11 Possibly 1959

Robert Frank shot this contact sheet of Elia Kazan’s “Wild River” in Tennessee. It’s so interesting to see this whole range of exposures and compositions all laid out together, the way Frank might have seen them in his darkroom. There are so many different ways in, right? The orange marks feel like Frank is almost drawing on the surface, editing as he looks. That makes me think about how much photography is about seeing, not just taking. I’m drawn to the close-up of a tree trunk in the second row, the one with the ‘X’ on it. The texture of the bark, the deep shadows, it almost feels like an abstract expressionist painting. A black and white Cy Twombly, maybe? It reminds me that even the smallest detail can be full of feeling. And it gives you a sense of place, a real sense of this film being made in the landscape. Frank was so good at finding those kinds of moments, those little details that add up to something bigger. He invites you to look closer, to really see.