Italy--Early Europe 8 1949

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, "Italy--Early Europe 8," sometime in his life. It's like a little poem, a visual diary, a series of glances. Imagine Frank wandering around Italy, camera in hand. I can picture him peering through the lens, framing a scene, clicking the shutter. Then repeating this action, over and over. A whole series of scenes! He shoots a roll of film, capturing people, streets, intimate interiors. Back in the darkroom, the film is developed, and then printed as a contact sheet—a record of each frame. There is a fascinating juxtaposition. In one frame, we see people milling around, while in another, a child poses at a window, their gaze meeting ours. You wonder what Frank was thinking, what caught his eye. What compelled him to freeze those moments in time? I love to see the artist thinking. It's a peek into Frank's process, a glimpse of his way of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. It makes me want to grab my own camera.