Festival--Children c. 1941

Robert Frank made this photograph, Festival--Children, with gelatin silver. It’s a small picture, but it feels big somehow. The photograph is full of people – a crowd, maybe? There’s a kid on the left with his mouth wide open, like he's seen something unbelievable. I wonder what Robert Frank was thinking when he took this picture? Was he trying to capture a specific moment, or was he just documenting everyday life as he saw it? The details are so interesting, like the way the light catches the faces of the people in the crowd. It reminds me a bit of Diane Arbus’s photographs, you know, that same kind of raw, unfiltered view of humanity. Artists are always in dialogue with each other, riffing on each other’s ideas, and pushing the boundaries of what art can be. This photo is a reminder that art is about capturing a moment, an emotion, a feeling, and sharing it with the world.