Zurich 1945

Robert Frank's photograph, Zurich, is a small, square window into a specific moment, captured with a camera and film, probably in the mid-20th century. I imagine Frank, maybe a bit of a rebel, sidling up to this political demonstration. Look at the blur of the flags, and then the sharpness of the man in the suit. Was he nervous? Was he trying to get close without getting too involved? He must have been thinking about how to represent the scene fairly, without taking sides. That banner proclaiming, "Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!"—Workers of all countries, unite!—hovers behind the speaker. And the way the light falls, grainy and uneven, gives the image a sense of immediacy, like it’s pulled straight from life. Frank’s work, like that of many photographers and painters, reminds us that images are never neutral; they're always filtered through someone's perspective. It's like a conversation between the artist and the world, a back-and-forth that keeps art alive.