Wales 49 1953

Robert Frank created this photographic contact sheet, "Wales 49," using gelatin silver print. You can almost smell the darkroom chemicals, can’t you? What strikes me is the raw, unedited quality. It’s not just about the images but the process of image-making itself. The red number scrawled across the frames reminds us this is a working document, a record of decisions and choices. It's like seeing an artist's sketchbook – intimate, immediate. Look at the graininess, the high contrast, the way some frames are darker or lighter. There’s a real physicality to this work; it feels like you could reach out and touch the surface. Each frame offers a fleeting glimpse, a moment captured. It’s like fragments of a story, and we, as viewers, get to piece it together. This reminds me of how Gerhard Richter used photography as source material for his paintings, blurring the lines between representation and abstraction. It's like they're both inviting us to question what we see and how we see it.