Florence--Italy 10 1964

Robert Frank captured this photographic contact sheet, "Florence--Italy 10," sometime in his life between 1924 and 2019. Look at how each frame is a slightly different world, a slightly different possibility. You know, when you're a photographer or painter, you're always searching, trying to catch something elusive. I imagine Frank wandering through Florence, his camera clicking, each shot a little experiment. It is amazing that he worked in series and multiples, like some painters do, making slight variations on a theme. I wonder what he was thinking as he developed this sheet in the darkroom. The textures are gorgeous - grainy and raw, like he wanted us to feel the grit of the city streets. I think this piece is reminiscent of what artists like Gerhard Richter did, or even Andy Warhol. The idea of the photographic image is almost like painting itself! I think artists are always in conversation, even across time. Frank’s contact sheet reminds us that art is about exploration, embracing the unexpected.