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Looking in: Robert Frank's the Americans
First published in France in 1958, then in the United States in 1959, Robert Frank's The Americans changed the course of twentieth-century photography. In 83 photographs, Frank looked beneath the surface of American life to reveal a people plagued by racism, ill-served by their politicians and rendered numb by a rapidly expanding culture of consumption. Yet he also found n...more
Hardcover, 506 pages
Published
January 1st 2009
by Steidl Publishing
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I picked this up (dragged, actually, because it's so heavy and thick) after catching the "Street Seen" exhibition at the Milwaukee Arts Museum. Robert Frank was one of six post-WWII photographers shown and analyzed. I had been familiar with Mr. Frank's unique style before, but I did not know about his book, "The Americans" and the controversies behind it. Now that I've seen it, I'm overwhelmed. It may well be the best photography book of the 20th Century, even if it was hars...more
I'm not sure there's anything new to say about The Americans. It's a book that continues to draw me in. It's not just the photographs; it's the flow of the photography from beginning to end. This is just a beautifully crafted book. I think the original is best, but the expanded edition helps folks comprehend how influential this book has been, and why it remains influential now.
'This edition of the book, however, was the one that became a bible - "an amulet," as an artist noted - for many photographers coming to maturity in the 1970s. Unable to appreciate the graphic complexity of Frank's compositions from this new edition or the tone and mood he had created, these photographers frequently looked more to the new icons he had identified, his seemingly loose, causal style, and his apparent disdain for technique.' (pp. 318)
Blew me away!
This is the most amazing body of work i have seen in one publication, for years. The fact that the shots were all taken over a two year period (58 & 59) is amazing.
This is the most amazing body of work i have seen in one publication, for years. The fact that the shots were all taken over a two year period (58 & 59) is amazing.
Two words: contact sheets. Saw the show in New York. Amazing.
the contact sheets alone are worth the price of admission.
These photographs, mainly from the 1950s, are exceptional. Robert Frank had the artist's eye, his work is unusual and individual without being self-indulgent.
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The 83 proof sheets in the Expanded Edition are worth the price alone. Badass.
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