Circus, Palisades 1 1958

Here's a sheet of black and white photographs by Robert Frank, the great master of melancholy and the decisive moment. I imagine Frank in his darkroom, coaxing these images out of the chemicals, like a medium summoning spirits. Each frame is a little window into another world, or maybe just a slightly different angle on this one. What I love about photography and painting is how they help you see the world in a new way. You start to notice things you never noticed before, like the way light falls on a face, or the way a shadow can completely change the mood of a scene. The last few frames are so dark they are almost a blur. I can imagine Frank thinking, "Is this the right one? Is this the feeling I am trying to convey?" It's like he's wrestling with the image, trying to capture something elusive and ephemeral. Maybe he was thinking of Stieglitz, or Cartier-Bresson, or some other great photographer who came before him. We all stand on the shoulders of giants. Anyway, it's all about the conversation, the ongoing dialogue between artists across time and space.