Congressional 13 c. 1954 - 1955

Robert Frank made this contact sheet, Congressional 13, at an unknown date using photography. You can see the images marked up with what looks like grease pencil. Red x's rule some in and out of the frame, some with blue marks too. The material of the film and the paper it's printed on give the whole thing a kind of gritty feel. Looking closely, the frames have a lot of contrast, with deep blacks and bright whites that give the picture a stark, documentary kind of feel, but then seeing the marks hand-made on the surface is such an intimate gesture. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, with the way he would scratch into the surface of a painting. That simple red X becomes a powerful way of saying yes or no. It’s about the act of choosing, editing, and how meaning can shift with just a simple mark. Like a painter, he's editing, making marks.