Dog cemetery--Paris 11 1959

Robert Frank made this contact sheet, titled Dog cemetery--Paris 11, using a camera and film. Look at this thing! It's all the artist's mistakes and near misses, and the final images he liked enough to circle. It's like a map of his mind, a record of his process. You can see him working it out, figuring out what he wants to say. I feel like I’m right there with him in the darkroom, watching him decide what makes the cut. The materiality of it is so present. I notice the smudges, scratches, and dust on the surface, they remind me that art-making is a messy human endeavor. Each frame offers a different angle, a slightly different composition. Each a testament to how one subject can yield multiple perspectives. And that final image of the dog cemetery, it's almost haunting, but also tender. The artist is honoring these animals in some way. The whole piece speaks to the fleeting nature of time, memory, and the act of seeing itself.