Convention 20 1956

This is Robert Frank’s ‘Convention 20’, a photographic print of film negatives. It’s a process laid bare, right? The raw material of the image, the celluloid itself, becomes part of the work. Look at how Frank handles the density of the crowd scenes, then punctuates it with those almost abstract shots of what seems like factory machinery. The high contrast monochrome gives everything a harsh, documentary feel, but the sequencing adds a layer of poetry, a rhythm of faces and forms. There’s a section in the middle with signs that say ‘Can Win’, but what can win? There’s something unsettling about its ambiguity; it feels like a question mark hanging over the whole piece. It reminds me of the way that Sophie Calle used to work, staging narratives and documenting the results, but with an added punch of social commentary. It’s not just about seeing, but about questioning what we see.