Franz Kline no number 1962

This is "Franz Kline no number" by Robert Frank, and from the looks of things, it's probably a contact sheet of 35mm film. What strikes me is the play between light and shadow, not just within the individual frames but across the whole sheet. You can see Frank experimenting with different angles, different exposures, almost like he's sketching with light. There's a real sense of process here; you get a sense of him working through an idea or a problem visually. I am drawn to the images where Kline is obscured by shadow. This makes me think about how an artist can be present and absent in their work at the same time. The grid of the contact sheet feels like a series of open-ended questions. It's like looking at a painter’s sketchbook, where nothing is really resolved. Maybe that's the point, you know? That art is an ongoing conversation, an investigation rather than a statement. Much like the work of Sol LeWitt.