Guggenheim 685/Americans 32--U.S. 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho 1956

This is Robert Frank’s “Guggenheim 685/Americans 32--U.S. 91, leaving Blackfoot, Idaho,” made with gelatin silver print, in no particular year, from what looks like a film strip. The film strip: what a generous, and yet parsimonious way to show us the world. Each frame, a little window, a little slice. I love the way the image gives us a sense of the whole roll, not just one perfect shot. I find it difficult to choose one frame to talk about, but, look at the darkroom marks, the numbering, the little bits of dirt and dust. It’s about as far from slick as you can get! Frank's pictures always have this rough, almost accidental feel, like he just grabbed the moment as it flew by. He was so influential for so many artists, and he reminds me a bit of Garry Winogrand, but in a more somber, less manic way, as he captured all this on film. I love the idea of art as just this ongoing conversation, a mishmash of ideas that never really get resolved.