11th Street story 54/People You Don't See 5 1951

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, 11th Street story 54/People You Don't See 5, using gelatin silver prints, and ink at some point in his life. The whole thing feels casual, like a sketchbook page, or a collection of notes. The physical marks made on the surface are so present here, from the numbering at the top, to the looping circles drawn over certain images. It speaks to a process of sifting and sorting, a very human and intuitive way of finding meaning amongst the chaos of the city street. Each frame offers a snippet of life, but it's in the arrangement, and those hand-drawn marks, that the work comes alive. It reminds me of the work of Cy Twombly, or even some of the Fluxus artists, who embraced chance and imperfection. Frank seems to be in conversation with the idea of photography as something other than a purely documentary form. He invites us to consider the story behind the images, and the hand of the artist in shaping our perception. It’s loose and free, leaving plenty of room for interpretation.