Guggenheim 572--Los Angeles 1955 - 1956

Robert Frank created ‘Guggenheim 572--Los Angeles’ using gelatin silver on photographic film. This wasn’t fine art photography as such, but rather the everyday medium of documentary, repurposed as a kind of personal poetry. The material itself, silver gelatin, lends a distinctive quality to the image, creating a range of blacks, whites, and greys that contribute to its expressive mood. But beyond the tonal range, the very format of the film strip is critical here. Frank is showing us the outtakes, the attempts, the full range of shots he took to get the few he wanted. By leaving the whole roll of film intact, Frank emphasizes the process of image-making, and his own subjectivity. It’s as though he wants us to know how much work goes into capturing even a single frame. The key is that Frank elevates the discarded to the status of art, implying that the journey of making is just as important as the finished product. In doing so, he challenges the traditional notion of the unique, perfect artwork, inviting us to consider the beauty and value in process.