Central casting--Hollywood 11 1958

Robert Frank's "Central casting--Hollywood 11" feels like a storyboard, laid bare with all its rough edges. It's a photograph, but the filmstrip format makes me think of it as a series of gestures, a collection of snapshots of Hollywood hopefuls. The physicality of the film is undeniable: the sprocket holes, the handwritten annotations, the dust and scratches. It's not a slick, polished image, and that's what I love about it. You can see the artist's hand, the process of selecting and arranging these images. Note the red marker circling a figure in one frame, a red cross above another, the marks of a subjective decision-making process. Frank's work has a similar rawness to that of Lisette Model or Weegee. They all seem to capture the grit and grime of everyday life, refusing to romanticize their subjects. "Central Casting" is a reminder that art doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be honest. It is a conversation, open to interpretation, and full of possibility.