Florida 21 1958

Robert Frank created Florida 21 using gelatin silver print, resulting in a monochromatic palette. But it is not the image itself that is the work, but rather the whole photographic roll that contains the images. As we look closer, the materials of the photographic roll show a series of contact sheet prints, which contain the series of images taken with a camera. Frank has emphasized the work involved in developing images by hand. The medium itself, the photographic roll, becomes the artwork, marking the time, labor, and effort, and social context involved in taking and developing images. The use of the photographic roll is significant, because we get to see how the images are developed, and we gain an insight into the production process of photography. It prompts us to rethink conventional notions of art, craft, and design, considering them as ways to understand the work.