Hollywood 79 1958

Editor: We're looking at Robert Frank's "Hollywood 79," a gelatin silver print from 1958. It looks like a contact sheet, multiple frames showing a crowd, some cars, and what might be a statue. It feels very documentary, like a series of captured moments. How would you interpret this work? Curator: This contact sheet gives us a glimpse into Frank’s process, revealing a series of images that, taken together, critique the American Dream. Frank's choice to leave the frames connected is significant. Consider, what does that raw, unedited quality suggest about the manufactured image of Hollywood that was being projected onto American culture? Editor: So, it's about revealing the behind-the-scenes reality? I notice the repeated image of, I think, a car and some kind of statue of what looks like a performer...is he highlighting a theme by repeating that visual element throughout the contact sheet? Curator: Exactly. The repetition, particularly the contrast between the idealized Hollywood image represented by the figure on top of a vehicle – often thought to be Jayne Mansfield, being paraded to promote a movie - and the mundane reality of the surrounding crowds, is central. Frank uses the "decisive moment" to capture those everyday tensions and challenges us to look beyond the shimmering surface. How do these choices challenge the idealized image that Hollywood cultivates and the culture it was imposing? Editor: That makes sense. Seeing it as a critical commentary on Hollywood’s constructed image is insightful. And by using the contact sheet itself as the finished piece, it shows a truth that would usually be hidden. Curator: Precisely. Frank's “Hollywood 79” is less about the glamour and more about the machinery and the socio-political stage upon which fame performs. This way of displaying his photographic work gives the public permission to look a little deeper into a usually hidden world. Editor: I definitely have a richer understanding now. Seeing the artistic and cultural statements he’s making helps me move past a superficial assessment of it. Thank you!