Audience, CBS TV studio--Burbank, California 1956

Robert Frank captured this black and white photograph, "Audience, CBS TV studio--Burbank, California," sometime in the mid-20th century. It's a sea of faces, all crammed together, a blurry mass of humanity waiting for their moment in the spotlight, maybe to be extras or audience members. What strikes me is the texture. The grain of the film is so present, it's almost like you can feel the grit of the city, or the residue of dreams. The darks are so deep, but there's a real softness in the way the light catches the faces, especially on that one woman with the dark hair in the center. There is such a contrast between the uniformity of the crowd and the individual expressions. The overall effect is to make you wonder about the intersection of art, popular culture, and the masses, it feels a bit like Warhol maybe. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that even in a crowd, we’re all just trying to be seen, to be understood, to find our place in the picture.