Paris 61B 1951 - 1952

Robert Frank’s “Paris 61B” presents a contact sheet, a direct print from a roll of 35mm film, likely made in the early 1960s. It’s a utilitarian object, born of the darkroom. What interests me here is the way Frank has engaged with the means of production. We see his markings – lines drawn in grease pencil to indicate frames he’s considering. He’s treating the contact sheet not just as a step in the photographic process, but as an artifact in its own right. This reframes photography as a practice of image selection, not just image capture. Frank is dealing with the economics of photography, where the labor of taking pictures is only a prelude to the more demanding task of editing, curating, and ultimately, deciding what to show the world. This contact sheet reminds us of the many unseen images, the surplus of modern life that photographers like Frank sift through, seeking to extract meaning. It’s a powerful statement about the labor and choices inherent in creating a photographic vision.