Guggenheim 517--Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, Universal City, California 1956

This contact sheet was created by Robert Frank, likely in the 1950s or 60s, at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in California. It’s a record of Frank's photographic process: a series of frames captured on a roll of film, documenting the behind-the-scenes activities of a major movie studio. Contact sheets like this one are inherently about reproduction. The images were made using a chemical process of development and printing, relying on the properties of light-sensitive paper. Their very existence is tied to the mechanics of mass media and the industrial processes that underpin it. Each frame offers a glimpse into the labor involved in filmmaking – from costume design to set construction – a stark contrast to the polished, glamorous image presented on the big screen. By presenting the raw material of image-making, Frank invites us to consider the layers of work and artifice that go into creating a cinematic illusion. This challenges traditional notions of authorship and artistic production, reminding us that even in the realm of high art, craft and labor play a vital role.