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Robert Frank
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June 16, 2025
Similar to the far more famous "The Americans", the book put out by Aperture, a magazine and publishing company that has been dedicated to promoting and celebrating photography as an art form, is the second in a large series of monographs by the greats.
One thing I most appreciated about this book is Frank's lack of care for the kinds of things I have to teach my beginning photo students not to do. His images have crooked horizon lines, they show pronounced grain, and his shadows are heavy. And yet Frank's work puts together moments and compositions that are brilliant, moving, meaningful. He is not rooted in irony or "gotcha" photography we see so often. Nor is he rooted in idealization. Far from it. He photographs people without disrupting their lives, real people doing their thing, while he finds a way to let them and their environment reveal what feels like truth.
One thing I most appreciated about this book is Frank's lack of care for the kinds of things I have to teach my beginning photo students not to do. His images have crooked horizon lines, they show pronounced grain, and his shadows are heavy. And yet Frank's work puts together moments and compositions that are brilliant, moving, meaningful. He is not rooted in irony or "gotcha" photography we see so often. Nor is he rooted in idealization. Far from it. He photographs people without disrupting their lives, real people doing their thing, while he finds a way to let them and their environment reveal what feels like truth.
Displaying 1 of 1 review