Mountainside--Landscape 1941 - 1945

Robert Frank made this photograph, Mountainside—Landscape, with a camera, at some point in his life. It's so striking because he's not trying to pretty it up. He lets the shades of gray do all the work in this image. The texture is intense, right? The rough, jagged rocks against the smooth, flowing snow. The sky is heavy, full of stormy potential. You can almost feel the cold radiating off the mountain. Then there are these little details, like the way the light catches on the edge of a crevice, turning the snow into something almost jewel-like, or the way the clouds aren't just a backdrop but feel like they're pressing down, adding to the drama. Frank wasn't interested in perfect clarity. He's more like, here's the world, raw and unpolished. I’m reminded of Gerhard Richter, and that kind of blurry realism where the world isn't perfectly in focus, it’s this in-between state that feels so much more real. Art isn't about answers. It’s about keeping the conversation alive.