San Gennaro festival--New York City no number 1953

This is Robert Frank’s photographic contact sheet, documenting the San Gennaro festival in New York City. It's a small, intimate object, 25 by 20 centimeters, a record of observation and process. What strikes me about this piece is the layering. It's not just about the subject, but about the act of seeing, the choices of framing, and the editing that follows. The images, captured on Kodak safety film, are high contrast with rich blacks and luminous whites, sequenced together to form a kind of visual poem. Note the red ‘x’ over one frame. It's like a painter's mark, a decisive stroke that dismisses one possibility in favor of another. Frank is not just passively recording; he’s actively shaping our view, directing our gaze. This piece speaks to the idea that art is less about capturing a single truth and more about exploring multiple perspectives. It reminds me a little of Warhol’s screenprints, how he played with repetition and difference to create new meaning.