Congressional 15 c. 1954 - 1955

This is Robert Frank's contact sheet, Congressional 15. It's a strip of film, full of little black and white moments. It's got those red crosses on the frames he didn't like. It's like a raw sketchbook page, where the failures are just as important as the almost-successes. There’s something so revealing about seeing the process laid bare. All these tiny glimpses, like a roll of the dice. The grain of the film, the stark contrast between light and shadow – it all adds up to this gritty texture. It's right there, the feel of the street, the smell of the moment. Look at the way the light catches on the faces, the blur of movement. It's like a visual poem, full of fleeting impressions and half-formed thoughts. Those crosses, those discarded frames – they're part of the story too. Frank reminds me of Garry Winogrand, another street photographer who just kept shooting and shooting. It's all about the process, the act of seeing, the messy, imperfect reality of life.