I. Cordova building--Santa Fe, New Mexico 1955

Editor: This photograph, “I. Cordova building—Santa Fe, New Mexico” by Robert Frank, taken in 1955, presents a rather unassuming facade. It feels very grounded, in a way. What strikes me is its stark realism, that grainy texture of the print, the almost brutalist feeling, but there are native details and imprints as well. What do you make of this piece? Curator: For me, this image speaks volumes about the materiality of place and the process of its construction and also maybe deconstruction. The rough, unadorned surfaces of the Cordova building emphasize the raw materials and labor involved. Think about the tradition of adobe construction here. We are considering the social realities embedded in the creation of this space. Editor: So you're seeing beyond just the visual representation to the actual building process itself? The making of the structure becomes the focus? Curator: Precisely! It challenges the conventional notions of art by shifting our attention to the very foundations, both literally and figuratively, of our built environment. It questions: who are the people who make these things? How is a cultural statement being made through a landscape photograph that on the surface is quite artless? Does this intersect with a cultural movement? How? Editor: That's a very different way of looking at it. It reframes what I initially saw as a simple photograph of a building. Are we challenging notions of "high" art here and appreciating how the raw materials are part of it all? Curator: Exactly. By emphasizing the materiality, Frank is pushing us to consider the economic and social contexts in which the building, and therefore the photograph, came to be. It makes you reconsider its place as a document of society as well as the place of the laborers and materials in modernism. Editor: This has totally shifted my perspective! I’m looking at something documenting labour and socioeconomic status and the real foundations upon which society rests. Curator: Yes! Photography's mass reproducibility makes the statement more important than the aesthetic value, allowing you to dig deeper in an introspective process of art appreciation.