Movie premiere—Hollywood 1956

Robert Frank shot this photograph, Movie premiere—Hollywood, with a camera. The grainy black and white gives the image a sense of spontaneity, as if Frank just grabbed his camera and snapped what was in front of him. The composition is odd and a little unsettling, with the focus split between the glamour of the movie premiere and the anonymous figures on the periphery. Check out the ornate, almost gaudy, architectural detail dominating the foreground. It's so over-the-top, and yet the real subject seems to be the voyeuristic glimpses of the actress and the crowd. It reminds me a bit of Garry Winogrand, who also captured the frenetic energy of city life. Both artists seem interested in revealing the absurdity and beauty of everyday life, finding poetry in the mundane. There’s no right way to interpret it, and that’s what makes it so compelling.