Guggenheim 541--Pasadena and Los Angeles 1955 - 1956

This strip of negatives was made by Robert Frank, we don't know exactly when, but sometime in the mid-twentieth century. I'm thinking about the darkroom, the red light, the smell of chemicals. Frank, hunched over, coaxing these images into being. There are moments caught in-between, like life flashing before your eyes. You have people walking, cars driving, city scenes... Here's what strikes me: the world unfolding, not in grand gestures, but in the everyday. Frank’s not trying to pretty things up. He shows it like it is, a little rough, a little messy. It’s like he’s saying, "Look, this is what it feels like to be alive, to be in the thick of it." And you know, that's what good art does, right? It makes you feel something real. It reminds you that you're not alone in your own messy, beautiful life.