Guggenheim 46--Allentown, Pennsylvania 1955

Robert Frank shot this contact sheet, "Guggenheim 46--Allentown, Pennsylvania," using film, and he probably developed it himself. You know, looking at the whole sequence gives you a fuller picture, not just the perfect shot. I imagine Frank wandering around, thinking about what to photograph; what to keep and what to cut. The dark frames create a rhythm, punctuating the images like rests in music. The red markings – Frank’s edits, perhaps – highlight his decision-making. What did it feel like to hold this strip of film up to the light, deciding what to show? It reminds me that art is about choices, and every choice changes what the work means. Photography is a constant conversation with reality – a back and forth between what’s there and what you decide to frame. Just like painting, really.