Embarkation 3 1957

Robert Frank made this photographic contact sheet, "Embarkation 3," using traditional darkroom methods. It's a collection of possible images, captured, developed, and printed as a means to help make choices. Looking at this sheet, it’s like being in the darkroom with Frank, watching him work. I can imagine him hunched over, squinting at the faint images in the dim light. The contact sheet displays a series of frames, a kind of storyboard, all in the service of finding *the* image. It offers a glimpse into the editing process itself, a search for the perfect composition. It makes me think about the relationship between the artist and the image, the way Frank was looking, and looking again. The repetition and the slight variations, all contribute to the overall feeling. Each print is like a brushstroke in a larger composition, each artist adding to the ongoing conversation of what images can do.