23rd Street weddings--New York City no number c. 1953 - 1954

Curator: What strikes me immediately about this gelatin silver print, by Robert Frank, tentatively titled "23rd Street weddings--New York City" from around 1953 or 1954, is its fragmentation. The series of frames gives me a dizzying, incomplete impression. Editor: I agree. It feels less like a composed photograph and more like evidence – a raw contact sheet exposing the photographer's process, almost violently tearing at the facade of idyllic street photography. Curator: Exactly! You see the mundane – pigeons in a park, bustling pedestrians, reflections on cars, captured seemingly at random. I'm intrigued by the red and yellow markings on some of the frames. Editor: Those annotations really contextualize the images within Frank’s editorial choices. The photograph ceases to become a decisive moment, in favor of displaying what he saw and ultimately disregarded as the inconsequential aspects of 23rd street, in turn making a poignant and bold statement about urban alienation in 1950s America. Curator: That’s interesting because Pigeons, for instance, have a strong symbolic resonance for me. They can represent communication, transition, even the soul in some cultures. Their presence here, scattered amongst the hurried crowds, adds another layer. Do you believe their symbolism can bring viewers to explore themes related to memory? Editor: It could, though I hesitate to over-romanticize it. Pigeons are also associated with poverty and neglect, echoing a gritty urban reality that’s frequently glazed over in conventional city portraits. What the inclusion of this commonly loathed animal on various frames allows for is to show its symbolic function over reality as part of a broader critical commentary that highlights themes of social disparity, as well as displacement in the postwar era. Curator: I see your point. The stark contrast between Frank's choices and perhaps a more idealistic representation certainly adds a layer of critique. Perhaps that is why his realism speaks truth to cultural memory today. Editor: Indeed, revealing, perhaps inadvertently, how reality often falls short. He offers us a glimpse of urban existence during the era. It makes you consider what we often choose to ignore, even today.