Marriage bureau--Reno, Nevada 1956

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, “Marriage bureau--Reno, Nevada”, using a fairly straightforward photochemical process. Light would have been captured by a lens and chemically fixed to paper, resulting in this stark black and white image. Frank wasn't interested in the perfection of the image; there's no attempt to disguise the medium. The tonal range is narrow. The reflections on the glass are distracting, not adding any beauty to the image. The message on the paper taped to the door of the Marriage License Bureau is mundane. The very act of photography here becomes a kind of ready-made, emphasizing the everyday materials and processes. We can see the labor of the darkroom, the sense of the artist's hand operating without finesse. This approach challenges the conventional notions of art, pushing us to consider the social and cultural context in which images are produced and consumed. Frank is encouraging us to look beyond the surface, and think about the making and its message.