City of London 1952

Curator: This photograph is Robert Frank's "City of London," taken in 1952. What’s your initial reaction? Editor: Stark. The high contrast almost erases detail. It highlights the formality, yet feels distanced. It gives the impression of London as severe, almost impenetrable. Curator: The figure, striding across the zebra crossing with his top hat and umbrella, is almost an archetype of Britishness, isn't he? There's a certain stubbornness and formality communicated by those symbols. Editor: It's also fascinating how Frank isolates him, right? Everything else seems to blur and fade. And he's framed amongst heavy machinery and the imposing backdrop of commercial buildings. It calls into question the man's relationship to industry and capitalism. Curator: I see that. There is definitely a sense of cultural memory invoked with the subject’s clothing—we know that particular fashion belongs to a past age of prosperity in England’s history. Editor: The monochrome heightens the starkness, almost flattening the image into a study of shapes. Was this simply a matter of available materials, or something more considered, I wonder? Perhaps, how photography becomes available and widely distributed during wartime shapes the way it communicates trauma after the war? Curator: Knowing Frank, it's deliberate. The grit and contrast serve to strip away romanticism. It's London, yes, but a working London. These materials also remind me of his later work, *The Americans*, which has that similarly austere quality. Editor: Right. Thinking about it in terms of material culture, the presence or, indeed, near absence, of certain technologies impacts both the production and interpretation of photographs like this, adding meaning to this individual and his place in time. Curator: Precisely. The symbolism and historical connotations intertwined in this work reveal more than a simple snapshot. Editor: Indeed, thinking through the labour that goes into creating a cultural object, "City of London" provokes thoughts beyond its subject and technique. Curator: Agreed. A fascinating and thought-provoking piece.