Guggenheim 142--New York City 1956

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, titled Guggenheim 142--New York City, sometime in the mid-20th century. The contact sheet shows Frank's working process, revealing the broader context of the images he chose to publish. Frank, a Swiss immigrant, arrived in the US and found himself both fascinated and troubled by American society. Here, in the contact sheet, we see images of a crowd in New York City, with American flags and loudspeakers visible. We could assume it's a political rally. By presenting his work in the form of a contact sheet, Frank is commenting on the photographic institutions and publications that shaped American visual culture at the time. To fully understand Frank's intentions, we might consider the social and political climate of the era, delving into documentary photography, and the countercultural movements that questioned mainstream values.