Convention hall—Chicago 1956

This photograph, Convention Hall—Chicago, was taken by Robert Frank. I'm guessing he used a handheld camera to capture this moment. There's something kind of anxious about this image, maybe it's the off-kilter angle or the way the figures are all squished together, looking upward. I wonder what they're all staring at? Is it something hopeful or menacing? The gray scale gives it this timeless, documentary feel, like something lifted from a forgotten newsreel. Frank was probably moving around, trying to get at something beyond the surface. It's like he's saying, "Look at this weird, awkward moment, this slice of American life." I imagine Frank lurking around in the shadows. Artists are always in conversation with one another, riffing off each other’s ideas, picking up the thread of what came before. It's all one big, messy, beautiful, ongoing dialogue.