Cocktail party--New York City 1955

This photograph, *Cocktail Party—New York City* was captured by Robert Frank, and while undated, it really breathes the mid-20th century. I imagine him, maybe a little bit of an outsider, stepping into this world, camera in hand, trying to capture a moment of genuine interaction amidst all the social posing. Look at how the light catches the rims of those champagne glasses. There's a tension here, isn't there? Between the posed smiles and the kind of loneliness you can sometimes feel even in a crowd. The blur of the background gives a sense of the fleeting nature of these encounters. Frank was a master of capturing the human condition in all its messy, beautiful complexity. He seems to be saying something about American society. These kind of images make you think about your own place in the world, the parties you've been to, the conversations you've had, and the moments that stick with you long after the champagne's gone flat.