Hollywood 55 1958

Curator: Editor: Robert Frank's "Hollywood 55", a gelatin silver print from 1958...it's fascinating to see the artist's process laid bare like this on a contact sheet. But, tell me, what initially jumps out at you when looking at it? Curator: The contact sheet presents so much more than just a photograph; it’s a visual document of a cultural moment, exposing layers of selection and decision-making that were at play in shaping narratives, but also a gaze of outsiderdom? What stories about mid-century American culture might Frank have been trying to unpack? Editor: I notice how a small sequence of the images portrays a scene through what looks like a bus window, where Frank then draws a circle over one. It seems that through them he captured a portrait of individuals amongst a wider culture, yet still anonymous. How much does Frank critique celebrity and/or mass culture? Curator: I would argue Frank does not critique either but merely reflects upon it with the kind of cultural commentary found in postmodernism. There's this stark juxtaposition between Hollywood as a site of dream-making and the mundane realities of daily life as we see here. The intimacy Frank gets from that candid, unfiltered vision of regular Americans invites us to really consider who gets to participate in the myth making, who's left out, and the overall complexities of it. Editor: You know, now that you mention myth-making I noticed this entire sheet creates almost an anti-narrative, stripping bare how images become icons. I’m starting to see that in rejecting established photographic styles Frank was consciously creating space for other viewpoints. Thank you! Curator: Absolutely, seeing beyond surface representation in this visual statement and realizing how it becomes such a relevant moment for opening up new conversations is where true insight lies.