Early New York City A22 1948 - 1951

Robert Frank made this black and white photograph, Early New York City A22, using a film camera, probably sometime in the 1950s. The city emerges and recedes in these captured moments, each frame hinting at stories untold. I imagine Frank wandering the streets of New York, his camera an extension of his eye. The graininess of the film makes me think he was capturing the raw, unfiltered energy of the city, like a painter building up layers of texture with each stroke. It’s like he's saying, "Look, this is what it feels like to be here, now." The contact sheet, marked ‘A22,’ reveals a process of selection, where the final image is as much about what’s included as what’s left out. Frank's work reminds me that art is often about the choices we make in the moment, the decisions that shape our perspective. His photographs always leave room for interpretation, echoing the flux and flow of the city itself.