Neon cocktail sign--Los Angeles 1955

This gelatin silver print, "Neon cocktail sign—Los Angeles," was snapped by Robert Frank, sometime, I guess, in the mid-20th century. Frank's mark-making here is all about contrast – the way the neon pops against the solid glass brick wall. It’s an image born out of seeing, and then pouncing. Look at that glowing cocktail glass, smack dab in the middle of the wall – it’s like a beacon, a promise of something fun behind those impenetrable blocks. The neon light is so linear, so graphic, which is juxtaposed with the smeared figure of someone blurred in the bottom right corner. That blur is a punch in the gut, so human, so messy! Frank’s aesthetic is all about embracing the accidental, the imperfect, you see it in photographers like Garry Winogrand or Diane Arbus. It’s like he’s saying, hey, life ain’t always pretty, but it sure as hell is interesting. And sometimes, all you need is a neon sign and a blurry figure to capture it all.