CBS camera, convention hall--Chicago 1956

This photograph by Robert Frank captures a scene from a Chicago convention hall featuring a CBS camera. Dominating the space, the camera, an emblem of mass media, is a modern-day Cyclops, its single lens staring, all-seeing. Consider its ancient counterpart: the all-seeing eye of God, a symbol of divine omniscience. Yet, here, the power shifts. The CBS eye, a technological descendant, now gazes upon the political theater, mediating reality for the masses. But what does it see? Rows of empty chairs, save for one figure slumped in slumber, a visual echo of weariness, of disillusionment, a kind of modern-day *melancholia*. We are left to ponder the cyclical nature of power and perception, the evolving symbols of authority, and the enduring human quest for meaning in an age dominated by the all-seeing mechanical eye.