Madison Square Garden--Early New York City no number c. 1949

This is Robert Frank’s contact sheet for images taken at Madison Square Garden, in early New York City. Frank used a small, handheld camera, with available light, to capture a specific moment, a gesture, a feeling. Look at the sprocket holes running down the sides of each frame; for me, they create a rhythm, like musical notation. I think of it as a series of glances, of moments, one after the other. I'm drawn to the blurry image in the third row, the second frame from the left. It's indistinct and a bit smudgy, with a shadowy silhouette and a diffuse sense of light. It’s like a fleeting memory, a quick impression, but full of energy and feeling. Frank’s approach to photography reminds me of Helen Levitt's street photography. Both artists have this knack for capturing the poetry of everyday life with a raw, intuitive eye. Neither artist is trying to be perfect, just honest.