Miles with baby--Terrace no number 1954

Curator: Let’s take a look at Robert Frank’s 1954 gelatin silver print titled “Miles with baby—Terrace no number.” It’s an interesting sheet of small-sized contact prints. Editor: It’s quite busy visually; a patchwork of candid moments. The high contrast lends it a gritty, almost melancholic feel. Curator: Indeed. Consider Frank’s characteristic use of off-kilter framing and his documentary style; they reflect a Modernist sensibility. Each frame functions as an individual image, while their organization on a larger film strip provides further insight into his vision. Editor: Right, the arrangement adds another layer, suggesting narrative, memory, even the fragmented nature of lived experience. Look at how one print features the musician Miles Davis and a baby - seemingly in a domestic space, or even a staged photo shoot - pushing back against the traditional image of the detached, untouchable artist. The photograph serves to humanize him, it is intimate. Curator: Precisely. It resists sentimentality by the nature of its grainy texture and almost snapshot quality, whilst also acting as a kind of typology. By repeating the image in several squares it becomes about its existence as multiples, rather than it's original message. Editor: I agree, Frank often challenges social constructs, here gender and the relationship between work and life balance and also artistic freedom. In the face of commercial pressures, one wonders whether or not Miles’ decision to allow for a more relaxed atmosphere on set enabled further creativity. Curator: We can never know the answer but either way, it gives us pause, yes? I'm drawn to the juxtaposition of candid spontaneity with the medium’s inherent formality. Editor: Agreed. It’s this dance between intention and accident that continues to make Frank's work compelling even today.