Guggenheim 642--Chinese cemetery, San Francisco c. 1956

Robert Frank created this work, Guggenheim 642--Chinese cemetery, San Francisco, using photography. This piece is a whole strip of different shots. The film reels are physical, something to be moved around, looked at, investigated. It's not about one perfect shot, it's about the process of looking and finding. The graveyard is still. But the images are a little blurred and jittery, like memories shifting around. There is a sense of playfulness, perhaps an acknowledgement of photography's limitations. Frank seems to be saying, "Here's what I saw, but it's just a glimpse." He understands that art is an ongoing dialogue, an exchange of ideas, a messy and beautiful conversation that transcends time. The ambiguity and multiple interpretations are what make art so compelling, don't you think?