Peru, no number 1948

Here's Robert Frank's photowork, *Peru, no number*. It's a series of small black and white photos in a grid, like an old school contact sheet, but it's also the final work, see? I can just imagine Frank wandering around Peru, camera in hand, trying to capture a feeling, a mood, a slice of life. I wonder what it was like for him, shuffling these images around, editing and re-editing to find the right combination. It’s clear from the architecture that the light is sharp and the sun is high; in one frame, a donkey is laboring while in another frame, people in hats are milling around. I see those sharp angles, the way the light bounces off surfaces, creating these stark contrasts, and it reminds me that Frank was always pushing the boundaries, challenging what photography could be. I imagine he wanted his photos to speak to each other. And so it is with all artists: we’re all in dialogue, borrowing, stealing, and riffing off each other's ideas across time.