Cowgirl and cowboy--Casper, Wyoming 1956

Robert Frank shot this photograph, "Cowgirl and Cowboy--Casper, Wyoming", with a camera, on a sheet. It’s giving me a fly-on-the-wall sensation. I feel like I'm in some car park with these two. The cowboy looks apprehensive, like he's been caught doing something bad. The cowgirl looks the other way, wistful, like she's dreaming of leaving town. I know Frank travelled around the USA a lot. I imagine him thinking to himself when he took this photo, “This looks like a scene from a movie.” I can imagine this being the cover art for a Bruce Springsteen album. It has that same sense of everyday Americana, a little melancholic, a little bit edgy. Photographers like Frank, and painters too, they build on the work of their predecessors, they inspire each other. He probably learned from Walker Evans, and later influenced people like Nan Goldin. Frank's eye allows us to see America in a different light.