Early New York City no number c. 1949

This contact sheet, *Early New York City no number*, was made by Robert Frank using photographic film. It’s a funny thing, film. There's this sense of being able to capture everything, all at once, but really it's all just glimpses and fragments. Here, Frank gives us a whole array of tiny frozen moments. I love how the light and shadow play across each frame, but it’s the blurry, grainy quality that grabs me the most. It's like these images aren't trying to be perfect, but just raw and real. Look at frame seventeen, a shot of legs with what appears to be an upside down hat; it’s kind of hard to tell, right? Maybe the hat is the key to the piece. Think about what a picture like this might have meant to someone like Garry Winogrand. He was also roaming the streets with a camera. I see Frank’s work, and Winogrand’s work as one long conversation about what it means to look, to see, and to remember.