Horse--Animals 1941 - 1945

Robert Frank snapped this photograph, sometime in his long life, using, I imagine, a handheld camera. It's a simple scene, rendered in black and white: a horse pulling a cart through the snow, a figure bundled up in the back. The tones are wonderfully moody. The snow isn't just white; it's got shadows and textures, each tiny flake catching the light differently, and I like the way this all seems captured on the slightly grainy surface of the print. Look at how the horse's shadow stretches out, bisecting the snowy foreground. It's almost like a dark, linear mark drawn across the landscape, a gesture as simple and direct as a brushstroke. Frank's way of looking at the world reminds me a little bit of Walker Evans, but grittier, more personal. Like he's not just documenting but also feeling, and isn't that what we all want from art? Not answers, but feelings?