Hillbillies--Tennessee no number 1959

Robert Frank made this black and white photograph, 'Hillbillies-Tennessee no number', with a small camera and a big eye, or maybe it was the other way around, a small eye and a big camera. The image shows a contact sheet, a sequence of small images that reveal Frank’s way of seeing, moment by moment. You can see his edits, the way he lets a scene unfold before him. The grey tones range from soft to dense, the grain is visible, almost like a painting. It’s not about a single perfect image, but about seeing the world as a flow, as a process. Look at the strip showing the children in the car, leaning out the window. The repetition and slight variations create a sense of intimacy and spontaneity. Frank's pictures, like the paintings of Gerhard Richter, show how art embraces ambiguity, turning it into a form of truth.