Guggenheim 713--Rodeo, Casper, Wyoming 1956

This is a contact sheet by Robert Frank, and you see these little pictures, like a storyboard, or maybe a memory reel. Frank was a major influence on a whole generation of photographers and filmmakers. I look at this, and I think about how a photographer selects their shots. There’s this constant winnowing, like editing a film. Which frame tells the story? What angle? What’s in focus? There’s a feeling in these tiny images of a real moment. I imagine Frank on the rodeo circuit, the smell of dust and horses, trying to capture something about America. I wonder if he felt like an outsider, and what he was hoping to find, what story he was looking for. It’s all about decisions, what to include and what to leave out. And I guess that’s what painting is too, right? We are all trying to show you something real.