Wales 28 1953

Robert Frank made this contact sheet, 'Wales 28,' using gelatin silver and applied some grease pencil. Look at the surface, the materiality of this object. Frank, he’s all about the process. I like that the physicality of the medium is on full display. The grease pencil is super present, it’s like he’s having a conversation with his own images, marking them up. The numbers and the marks, they’re part of the piece, not separate from it. They point to the act of looking, choosing, and making decisions. That big looping ’82’ in red? It’s so bold, so assertive. It’s almost like a tag, a personal stamp. Frank is really present, not hiding himself. What I like about it is that it suggests this ongoing exchange of ideas across time. It's all about how seeing is a form of thinking.