Subway cars--Early New York City no number c. 1950s

Robert Frank's "Subway Cars--Early New York City no number," gives us these strips of negatives, like outtakes from a film. What I love about this is how Frank lets us see the raw material of his process. It's not just the final image, but the whole sequence, the almosts, the maybes. Look at the last strip with the subway riders; the people, so close together, yet so separate. The light and shadow plays on their faces, giving them this haunted, movie-star quality. The materiality of the film, with its grain and scratches, it adds another layer of texture and reality. There’s a raw immediacy to Frank’s work. It reminds me of what Diane Arbus was doing at the same time, capturing these frank portrayals of people in their everyday lives, but with a kind of tenderness. Like a love letter to the realness of the city. The work says that art is an ongoing conversation with the world, and Frank was one of its most eloquent speakers.