Jehovah's Witness 2A 1958

Editor: Here we have Robert Frank’s "Jehovah's Witness 2A," a black and white photograph from 1958. What immediately strikes me is the raw, almost documentarian quality of the image, with all the sprocket holes visible! What can you tell me about Frank's intentions, seeing as he left these on the frame? Curator: Let's consider what's revealed through Frank’s chosen process. By including the film strip itself, Frank emphasizes the *making* of the image. He's refusing a seamless, polished presentation, laying bare the materiality of photography – the physical roll of film, the mechanical process of exposure, the chemical development. This transparency invites questions about the mass production and consumption of images, and how they shape our understanding of reality. It democratizes the viewing experience. Do you see a potential political element? Editor: Yes, I see it now. He's not just showing us *what* he photographed but also reminding us *how* it was made and distributed. I guess, how was photography viewed then versus now? Curator: In the 1950s, photography was straddling a line between fine art and documentary. Frank challenges this hierarchy. By foregrounding the *material* of the film strip, he's asserting photography as a craft, a product of labor, not just some objective capturing of reality. He's forcing the viewer to consider photography as a constructed representation. Editor: So, he's using the materiality of the image to make a statement about its own constructed nature and the context in which it exists. Curator: Precisely. Think about the labor involved in creating this image, from Frank himself to the factory workers who produced the film. Every stage in the creation of this image is accounted for by displaying the film. And also how it defies notions of high and low art. The raw quality serves as an open, social critique. Editor: That makes me see it in a completely different light! I initially thought it was a simple street photograph, but now I see the conscious decisions he made in production to make a more powerful statement about how images are constructed, distributed, and consumed.