Zurich 1945

Robert Frank made this photograph in Zurich, of a marching band, sometime during his lifetime. I’m imagining Frank walking the streets, his Leica M3 camera up to his eye. Click. He captures this somewhat formal moment of uniformed musicians but from a tilted perspective. The building looms behind them, flags punctuate the air. The black and white image gives it a timeless quality, but somehow off-kilter. I can feel him empathizing with the youth, maybe remembering his own. What’s going through their heads? Are they thinking about impressing a girl, or hoping to nail the next note? Frank's work, much like life, is a series of fleeting moments. Moments that feel like half-truths and beautiful mysteries. A picture snapped is a collaboration with the world. We steal a moment, and give it back changed.