Mountains--Landscape 1941 - 1945

Here's a small gelatin silver print called 'Mountains--Landscape' made by Robert Frank. I can feel Frank's own presence behind the camera, pointed up towards this monumental scene. He captures something about the relationship between the earth and the sky, the dark rocks below contrasting with the light, snowy peaks. What was it like to be up there? How did he feel looking through the viewfinder? Mountains have always been a powerful subject for artists, from the sublime landscapes of the Romantic painters to the stark, almost abstract, photographs of Ansel Adams. There's something about their scale and grandeur that seems to evoke a sense of awe and wonder, but also a feeling of vulnerability. Ultimately, what Frank gives us here is more than just a picture of mountains. It's a record of a moment, a feeling, a way of seeing. And it reminds us that, as artists, we're all in conversation with each other.