Guggenheim 46--Allentown, Pennsylvania 1955

Robert Frank made this contact sheet, Guggenheim 46--Allentown, Pennsylvania, sometime during his career. It's like looking over the artist's shoulder, seeing his process. Each frame offers a glimpse, a potential moment captured. The images themselves are raw, grainy, full of contrast. Look at the repetition of the rooftops with the wires, and the people at the viewing platform looking out at the valley. There's a slice of life quality here, unvarnished and real. The dark lines dividing each frame create a rhythm, a sense of time passing. The red marks around one of the rooftop frames, highlights the act of selection, the artist's eye zeroing in on a particular image. It speaks to the idea that art is as much about choosing as it is about creating. Like the great work of Walker Evans, Frank's photography shows us the beauty, and strangeness, of the everyday. It's an ongoing conversation, a way of seeing and making sense of the world.