Guggenheim 345--Esso oil refinery, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1955

Robert Frank made this photograph, Guggenheim 345, of an Esso oil refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I love how the images are presented, a collection of frames, a roll of film, as if offering us a glimpse into the artist's working process, his way of seeing and framing the world. You can see him trying to figure out what he wants. What must it have felt like to stand there amidst that industrial landscape, the air thick with fumes, the ground vibrating with the pulse of machinery? This feels very ‘of its time’. It’s like he’s saying something about America, labor, and industry. He captures these ordinary scenes, revealing the quiet beauty and underlying tensions of everyday life. There’s a sense of intimacy here. That directness is something you find in other photographers such as Walker Evans or Diane Arbus, people who looked at the world as it was, without flinching. It’s all part of an ongoing conversation. Each artist responds to what came before, pushing the boundaries of their medium.