11th Street story 3/People You Don't See 16 1951

This is Robert Frank’s contact sheet, created from black and white film, that he called “11th Street story 3/People You Don't See 16." It’s a whole bunch of images, right? Like a painter’s study, the way he shoots a bunch of different exposures and views in one go. You can see how the images repeat. The surface itself is super-smooth, except for the scratches and dust, the stuff that reminds you this isn’t digital. I see a few frames, maybe number two, where the scratches almost make a big X over the images, which makes me think about the way Frank’s work often messes with the idea of what’s in focus and what’s not, what’s important and what’s not. Frank makes me think of Garry Winogrand, both capturing the grainy feel of street life. Art is like that, a back and forth. You try and make it new, but also see how it fits into what came before, but leave it open, leave it loose.