Guggenheim 450--Los Angeles 1955 - 1956

Editor: We’re looking at Robert Frank’s “Guggenheim 450--Los Angeles”, from 1955-56, a gelatin silver print showing a full contact sheet. It's mostly night scenes, and there are these red markings – an X over one frame, circles around others. It gives a gritty, almost voyeuristic feel, like peeking at discarded memories. What do you see in this contact sheet, looking at it symbolically? Curator: I see fragments of urban life, suspended between memory and the discarded. Frank is very interested in how symbols emerge from these modern landscapes, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely! It feels almost like a coded language. Curator: Indeed! Look at the darkness, and the grainy texture. It embodies the post-war American unease, expressed in contrast between prosperity and underlying anxiety. The car—that symbol of American freedom—seems almost trapped, claustrophobic even. And what about the people gathered, are they communing, protesting? And do those red markings signify a value judgement? Editor: That’s fascinating. I hadn’t thought about the unease, but it’s definitely there. I was mainly interpreting it as visual experiments – cropping, composition – what grabs him as a photographer. Curator: But doesn’t the very act of photographing *become* a comment, a coded language? Consider too the influence of film noir aesthetics, all that anxiety framed in dark shadows, lending itself to the cultural dialogue. These dark hues signify that these are perhaps troubled times. What might they tell us? Editor: That’s a great way to put it! It makes me rethink how I view street photography – not just as capturing moments, but constructing meaning. Curator: Precisely! This photo invites us to decode the symbols embedded in plain sight and remember this as more than simply documentation, but reflection of society. Editor: I'll never look at a contact sheet the same way again. Thanks! Curator: A pleasure!