Deer head in mirror--Santa Cruz, California 1956

Robert Frank made this photograph in Santa Cruz, California, and while we don't know exactly when, the off-kilter composition and grainy black and white gives it that mid-century, slightly beatnik feel. Frank's really playing with layers here, right? There’s this deer head, mounted, looking straight at us, but then there's a mirror behind it reflecting... more deer heads and rifles, of course! It’s a store display, maybe? All those ghostly reflections create depth, a kind of infinite loop of dead animals. There’s even an arrow sticking out the top of the one in front. It's so nonchalant and sort of funny, but also, a little chilling. Frank did a lot of work that was about looking at America with a critical eye, and I think this photograph is no different. It's about consumption, death, and how we glorify violence, all packaged up in this slightly absurd, slightly sad image. He makes me think about Diane Arbus, another artist who took a long hard look at American life.