Various family S12 c. early 1950s

This piece, by Robert Frank, shows a roll of 35mm film, exposed, developed, but before it has been cut into individual frames. It’s a process shot - photography laid bare, like a painter showing their underpainting. There is so much information compressed onto one sheet. There are street scenes, glimpses of buildings, people walking. Our eyes dart all over, scanning for meaning. Look at the frames in the middle of the roll, hazy views, the emulsion is almost burnt out with light. The images aren’t super clear, not like the hyper-real images we are used to today. Frank’s work is more like snapshots from real life. The grain and blur are part of the story, the emotional texture of these images. Like a Gerhard Richter painting, the imperfections are the point. Frank reminds us that photography is about capturing moments, not perfection.