Weaver and wife, North Carolina--Various family S33 1948

This contact sheet was made by Robert Frank, sometime during his travels in North Carolina. I love seeing these kinds of documents, the behind-the-scenes of the photographic process. The image shows us a selection of photographs from one roll of film. The composition is defined by hard black lines that separate one shot from another. But these black lines also create connections across the images, which are like a sequence of thought, moving from people in nature, to a portrait, to buildings and signs. Take a look at the way the different images speak to each other – the contrasts of light and dark, the juxtapositions of form and content. Frank's sequencing reveals a fascination with the everyday, with a kind of anti-monumentality. It’s as if he wants to say: life is found in the smallest of details, not only in the grand vistas. It reminds me of the work of Walker Evans, but maybe a little less composed, with a more raw and intuitive eye. Ultimately, it’s up to us to weave our own narrative through these fractured moments.