Paris 39B 1951 - 1952

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, "Paris 39B," sometime during his career, and what grabs me is the way it lays bare the photographic process. The image shows several strips of film, a sequence of moments, with numbers scrawled on it, like notes in a sketchbook. There is a lovely contrast between the matte black background and the shiny film. You can almost smell the chemicals, feel the darkroom's cool air. Each frame is a little world, some blurred, some sharp, a street scene, a figure in a cafe. I keep coming back to the frames of the people sitting inside what looks like a train carriage or a cafe, all looking intently in different directions. It reminds me of Gerhard Richter’s "Atlas," the way he collected and arranged photos to create a new kind of narrative. Both artists embrace chance, layering images to create something that feels both intimate and expansive. It's like they're saying, "Here's the world, fragmented, imperfect, but full of stories."