Florida 4 1958

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, "Florida 4," and he didn't give us a date. You know, artmaking is always about a process of selection and framing, and here Frank does this literally. What grabs me is the physicality of the film strip. It’s right there, the texture of the material, the sprocket holes. Frank doesn't hide the means of production, he puts it right in your face! He uses the whole strip, with all its imperfections, to frame his images of Florida. It's a great way to think about how we crop our reality to make a picture. My eye keeps going back to the 'No Fishing' sign, which recurs several times on the film. It's so clear, the word 'NO', but there are so many other shots around it, each telling their own story and adding to the feeling that we’re somehow on the outside looking in. I'm reminded of another great photographer, Garry Winogrand, who also shot life as he found it, gritty, real and utterly compelling.