Early New York City 77 c. 1948 - 1950

Curator: Look at this fascinating contact sheet, "Early New York City 77", made by Robert Frank around 1948 to 1950. What grabs you first about it? Editor: The grit, absolutely! It's almost brutal in its honesty. The images are so direct, unvarnished. You can practically smell the coffee and stale cigarette smoke of that diner. And what appears to be urban decay too, street scapes on the contact strip edge? Curator: Frank certainly had a knack for capturing the pulse of a city, didn't he? His perspective always feels a little…left of center, like he's observing from the fringes. What about the materiality interests you the most? Editor: Oh, definitely the gelatin-silver print process. The deep blacks and bright whites. Frank’s deliberate use of high contrast… the grain feels intentional, like he wants us to see the imperfections. The labour intensive process emphasizes the careful selection inherent in making this sheet. Curator: Precisely. And look at how he frames these mundane moments – people in a diner, a city street. He imbues them with such palpable emotion. It's melancholic, don't you think? As if something's just slightly… off. I wonder what drove his specific image choices here...it really is a voyeuristic view point. Editor: Absolutely! There’s a sense of unease lurking beneath the surface of everyday life in a city post-war struggling with consumerism. The coffee cups become almost like characters themselves, recurring motifs hinting at repetition, routine, and maybe even a touch of despair. Its reproducibility too adds a critical mass to this commentary of daily life that might otherwise seem fleeting or isolated. Curator: I think it's a masterful commentary on the human condition, laid bare against the backdrop of urban life, raw and beautiful. A poignant artifact capturing New York in a period of both hope and disquiet. Editor: It is! This piece reveals Frank’s awareness that beauty isn't always pretty, it's often found in the shadows, the overlooked details and that by elevating these material realities, he grants them validity.