Times Square--New York City 3 c. 1961

Robert Frank made this sheet of contact prints, his ‘Times Square--New York City 3’, using a camera and photographic paper, as a way to see what he'd captured. It's a document of a process, like a painter's studies. What strikes me here is the honesty of the medium, showing all the images at once, good and bad. The high contrast and graininess aren't hiding anything, they're showing the grit of the city. There's a red square around a shot, but it's hard to say if Frank thought it was a good one or not. I find my eyes drawn to the reflections in the shop windows, distorted and strange, hinting at hidden realities. Frank reminds me of Walker Evans, but grittier, more immediate. It’s a kind of anti-aesthetic, embracing the messiness of life rather than trying to tidy it up. And, that's where the beauty lies, in those raw, unvarnished moments.