Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans

by Sarah Greenough, Anne Tucker (Collaborator), Stuart Alexander (Collaborator)

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 novel areas of beauty in simple, overlooked corners of American life. And it was not just his subject matter--cars, jukeboxes and even the road itself--that redefined the icons of America; it was also his seemingly intuitive, immediate, off-kilter style, as well as his method of brilliantly linking his photographs together thematically, conceptually, formally and linguistically, that made The Americans so innovative. More of an ode or a poem than a literal document, the book is as powerful and provocative today as it was 50 years ago.
Published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Looking Robert Frank's "The Americans" celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of this prescient book. Drawing on newly examined archival sources, it provides a fascinating in-depth examination of the making of the photographs and the book's construction, using vintage contact sheets, work prints and letters that literally chart Frank's journey around the country on a Guggenheim grant in 1955-1956. Curator and editor Sarah Greenough and her colleagues also explore the roots of The Americans in Frank's earlier books, which are abundantly illustrated here, and in books by photographers Walker Evans, Bill Brandt and others. The 83 original photographs from The Americans are presented in sequence in as near vintage prints as possible. The catalogue concludes with an examination of Frank's later reinterpretations and deconstructions of The Americans , bringing full circle the history of this resounding entry in the annals of photography.
This richly illustrated paperback edition of Looking Robert Frank's "The Americans" contains several engaging essays by curator Sarah Greenough that explore the roots of this seminal book, Frank's travels on a Guggenheim fellowship, the sequencing of The Americans and the book's impact on his later career. In addition, essays by Anne Wilkes Tucker, Stuart Alexander, Martin Gasser, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Michel Frizot and Luc Sante offer focused analyses of Frank's relationship with Louis Faurer, Edward Steichen, Gotthard Schuh, Walker Evans, Robert Delpire and Jack Kerouac, while Philip Brookman writes about his work with Frank on several exhibitions in the last 30 years. This paperback edition also reproduces many of Frank's earlier photographic sequences, as well as all of the photographs in The Americans and selected later works.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction, History, Art and Photography, American History, Essays

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 83 proof sheets in the Expanded Edition are worth the price alone. Wow.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is organized into chapters of Frank's life and describes how these various time periods impacted his art. I initially found it confusing how to refer to the various prints in the book, but I eventually figured out where the reproductions were placed. From the first chapter, I was fascinated by Brodovitch (a photographer who Frank studied with): "He urged them to use blur, imprecise focus, and large foreground forms; to bleach their negatives; to radically crop and distort their prints; to print two photographs on top of each other; and even to put gauze over the lens of their enlargers -- to do anything, in short, to capture not the facts of a scene or event but their experience of it."

As Frank travelled America on his Guggenheim Fellowship, and especially after a worrisome experience in Arkansas, his approach changed: "No longer striving for poetic effect or even beautiful photographs, he now openly sought to express his opinions about what he saw -- his anger at the abuse of power, his suspicion of wealth and its privileges, his support for those less fortunate, and, most of all, his fears about the kind of culture he saw emerging in this country."

I was also intrigued by the approach of Storylines, which opened in London in 2006, as it "began with a complete set of enlarged proof sheets detailing every strip of film containing a negative that was published in The Americans. Here one could study Frank’s work frame by frame with a sense of continuity to see what came before and what came after the iconic images that are known." I wish I could have seen that exhibit.

I found that this material continues to be relevant to America today. Can we allow ourselves to be moved by his work, to help make America better in the 21st century?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

While at the Met to view an American paintings exhibit, I wandered into the Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans exhibit going on at the time. In all honesty, I was not familiar with Frank's works (although I think over the years I had seen a photo or two from The Americans in various books). The exhibit was extremely overcrowded and I left not really caring for many of the images there. Recently, I came upon this book in the "new books" section of my library and realized it was the accompanying publication for that exhibit.

This book was a fascinating exploration of Frank's most famous works. Although in the end I think I left this book feeling not much love for Frank's photographs, I was intrigued by his desire to pursue this project. In the end, I felt The Americans is really the view of an outsider looking in on a society completely foreign to him. The fact that the images were meant to be viewed as a grouping evoking one man's experience of exploring America for the first time was an interesting concept. Although, to me a photograph should stand on it's own as well - Frank's ambition to interpret and set apart photography as not only a medium valued for its artists' technical expertise, but also bringing it into equality with the other arts of the 1950s era - be it painting, literature or poetry - makes this book worthy of it's place in art history.

Kudos to the folks who put this publication together.

[Brennan Probst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great information. Great selection of images in addition to the original "The Americans" photographs.

HOWEVER,

Plates are not displayed one page at a time like Frank intended. Also, Kerouac's intro is absent, except for a practically unreadable image of his first typed draft.

[Jessie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certainly necessary for Robert Frank fans.

[Nanette Bulebosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 harshly booed by critics when it came out 50 years ago. Mr. Frank is a genius

[Gregory S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[jj aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Bob Peru · Rating 5 out of 5]

the contact sheets alone are worth the price of admission.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two words: contact sheets. Saw the show in New York. Amazing.