New York City 1 1957 - 1958

This is Robert Frank’s ‘New York City 1’, and it's a photographic contact sheet. I am drawn to the process here. It’s this gridded frame that gives the work its energy. Each frame captures something different: people on the street, cars, a row of chairs, some street hardware. It's a little disorienting, right? The composition feels like a conversation, an ongoing dialogue. The physical qualities of the image add to this feeling. The blacks are deep, but the grays offer a soft contrast, creating a sense of depth and texture. Look at the frame of chairs in the center. The chairs are stacked neatly, but they seem to multiply with each frame. There's something kind of obsessive about it, which makes me think about how Frank, like all artists, was searching, never quite satisfied. It reminds me of some of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who were known for their typologies of industrial structures. But where the Bechers are cool and detached, Frank is all heart. It's a reminder that art is never about finding the right answer, but embracing the questions.