Car accident—U.S. 66, between Winslow and Flagstaff, Arizona 1955

Robert Frank made this photograph somewhere between Winslow and Flagstaff, Arizona. It's a black and white photograph, and what grabs me is the way it’s not trying to be anything other than what it is: a document of a stark reality. The texture of the ground, the grainy sky, the way the figures stand, almost like props in a play. There’s a heaviness to the image. It’s not about beauty; it's about presence. The covered body in the center anchors the whole scene. The figures behind seem almost incidental. There’s a mark, a scratch, a stain in the bottom corner - a reminder of the physical process. Frank's work has a rawness, a directness, that reminds me a bit of Walker Evans, but with a more personal, almost vulnerable edge. It's this quality that makes his photographs stay with you, asking questions more than giving answers.