Coney Island 2 1959

Curator: Ah, Robert Frank’s “Coney Island 2,” a gelatin silver print from 1959. I feel like it captures the gritty poetry of the everyday. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by its fragmented quality. It’s like looking through scattered memories, or perhaps a contact sheet refusing to tell a single, coherent story. There is also this sense of not only joy, which Coney Island is, after all, supposed to represent, but a strong sentiment of segregation: be it in a social class sense, but also race... Do you perceive something like this in it, too? Curator: Absolutely! I see it as a visual poem. Frank had a way of capturing those in-between moments, the little absurdities, the joys and alienations coexisting side-by-side. To me this one feels a little anxious. There are groups of people looking formal. Editor: These photographs are mounted one beside the other, making us, in essence, think about time as a narrative--or not. We cannot help but follow them almost chronologically. And the way Frank uses light and shadow adds such a layer of complexity; his frames push us to confront social contrasts, to expose those uncomfortable realities of 1950s America that mainstream culture often tried to ignore, it is interesting how social photography started getting a clear approach. Curator: Exactly, his work always seems to be pointing out, even in these supposed celebrations, who is invited to the party and who isn't. I read his style as something that pushes against the grain, visually challenging the viewer in a way traditional photography hadn't really done. Editor: Yes, by breaking formal conventions and pushing the boundaries of what photography could represent, I see in Frank this desire of wanting us to reconsider our preconceived notions, and questioning the power dynamics at play in everyday life. I love the way art continues to push boundaries. Curator: It definitely gives me a lot to consider about art and its purpose, even now. Thanks! Editor: Thanks to you too.