Guggenheim 332/Lines of My Hand 58--Port Gibson, Mississippi 1955

Robert Frank shot this contact sheet of images, Guggenheim 332/Lines of My Hand 58--Port Gibson, Mississippi, using a camera, some time in the middle of the 20th Century. What grabs me about it, is how the uniform size of the frames sets up a rhythm, almost like cinematic time. I'm interested in the way the surface is marked by scratches and dust, and how the mechanical process of photography feels hand-made somehow. There's a great section in the middle with a row of portraits. In the center of this, one man looks directly at the camera. It feels like a loaded gaze, and you start to ask yourself questions. Who is this person? What are they thinking? Frank has an amazing ability to find nuance in monochrome. Like other photographers such as Diane Arbus, he is a master of capturing an authentic sense of time and place. The images feel artless, yet so much thought and feeling has gone into the making. This is a photograph that keeps on giving.