Man in automobile--Los Angeles 1956

Robert Frank’s photographic print, Man in automobile--Los Angeles, captures a seated man gazing out of a car window. It's a photograph filled with light and dark, and Frank is looking for something, I think, in the tonal range, something about the American experience. I want to know what this guy is thinking. The way he's dressed gives the impression that he is a man of labor. The hat and the angle, he's like a movie star, but the darks tell a different story. Perhaps the bright light on the window frame against the dark interior of the car emphasizes the divide between the man and the world he inhabits. It reminds me of the cinematic, gritty realism of Cassavetes or the still photography of Walker Evans, artists who also examined life from a close perspective. Frank shows that the conversation between artists is always ongoing, and there’s a lot here for other photographers to play with.