Buildings--San Francisco 1956

Editor: This is Robert Frank's "Buildings--San Francisco," taken in 1956. It's a silver gelatin print, capturing a row of rather stately, somewhat austere buildings. The almost severe symmetry creates such a rigid feel. What strikes you when you look at this, considering the year it was taken? Curator: Austere, yes, like silent sentinels guarding some long-forgotten secret! Robert Frank was so good at revealing the subtle sadness clinging to the edges of things. He captured America as he experienced it. But there is light in the picture too; isn’t there always? Do you get the sense that what's just out of the frame is actually very lovely and inviting? Like, we see so much, but are allowed very little. Editor: I didn’t pick up on that! So, you see it as almost a commentary on what is shown versus what's concealed from view? Curator: Exactly! I think there is a bit of voyeurism as well; we gaze into these windows, catching glimpses, but the real lives within remain just out of reach. And isn't that what urban life often feels like? We are both intensely connected, but incredibly isolated. Did you notice that these buildings aren't new and shiny; in fact they already had age to them? Almost like those who live within already existed before we saw them. Editor: That's so true. There is this layered story that just doesn’t scream to be seen. I hadn’t even considered how well this photograph encapsulates that duality of urban living. I guess I saw what I expected to see: old buildings! Curator: But now you see what you didn't expect! And the real magic happens when you begin to really explore the art as well. Thanks for allowing me to travel, for a moment, into a time where the quiet felt just like this photo. Editor: That feeling is definitely now coming across to me as well! A new perspective is quite powerful.