Andrea as infant III 1954

This is Robert Frank’s "Andrea as infant III", a black and white photograph, probably shot sometime in the mid-20th century. Looking at this contact sheet I get a sense of Frank circling his subject, trying to get it right. Each frame is a small variation, a slight shift in perspective, a play of light and shadow across the infant’s face. I imagine him in the darkroom, hunched over the developing tray, watching these images emerge, one by one. Maybe he felt like he was chasing something elusive, trying to capture a fleeting moment of innocence or vulnerability. I always admire the work of photographers, and feel like my own work is always reaching out, like a painter trying to understand the particular power of the photographic image, and how it informs our seeing and understanding. Artists are always in conversation, you know, across time and media, riffing off each other's ideas. This image leaves space for multiple meanings.