Two 'New' Introductions: No. 1

Just a short note about an upcoming book and show. This coming November 9th will mark the centennial of the birth of Robert Frank, the Swiss-born American/Canadian photographer who upended 1950s America's view of itself. There's to be an exhibition of his later film work in Manhattan at the Museum of Modern Art this Fall—apparently not deliberated finished work, but rather culled and compiled from bits and pieces of movie film found squirreled about his home, dating from 1970 to 2006—and his book The Americans is getting a worshipful reprint from Aperture. There's a standard hardcover, and there will be a deluxe slip-cased version in November. The reprint before this one was from Steidl in 2008, done under Frank's own supervision. Robert Frank died in 2019.

The 83 pictures in The Americans were edited from 28,000 frames taken by Frank on a transcontinental trip made possible by a Guggenheim Fellowship. It has long been considered, by acclaim and by critical consensus, to be the most important book of American photography of the 20th Century, or at least the most influential. Philip Gefter illuminates some of its influence in Photography After Frank from 2009.

The survey
The case can be made that there are two main ways to collect photography books, one being to amass what you like in the areas of your own interest, and the other being to attempt a survey, trying to trace and represent in your collection the spidery skeins of influence and importance across many genres and subjects. I've done a bit of each, mostly the latter, although it hasn't really been my privilege to gather a real collection. But certainly if you were going to distill half a hundred books to form a core of almost any collection, of American photography at least, The Americans would belong on the list.

I already have two versions of it, so I won't be buying this latest one, but if I get a chance to inspect it I'll report back.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Kenneth Tanaka: "One copy is enough for me. For those who also already have a copy may I suggest Sarah Greenough’s very insightful Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans: Expanded Edition from 2009. It’s at least 3x as thick but offers many rich insights to the work, as well as come contact prints. As an aside, some years back I had an opportunity to see many of Frank’s actual contact sheets at the National Gallery of Art. Nothing tells you more about a photographer’s process and skills than seeing contact sheets. Today there are several sources for replicas of some of his contacts online."

Comments

[Jeff]

I’m fortunate to have fine copies of both the original French and English editions. I also greatly enjoy the expanded edition of “Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans.” The included contact sheets are a revelation. My collection emphasizes well preserved first editions from, and about, photographers I like. Subjects vary.

[K4kafka]

When finally seeing some of Frank’s original prints from The Americans series, I was shocked and a bit disappointed to see how poorly printed they were.

[s.wolters]

'The Americans' has been on my shopping list as long as I can remember. Every time I picked it up I was hugely disappointed by the printing quality. If this one is better I'll be the first to buy it.

[Nico]

There is a reprint on the way HCB’s canonical book, too. You can pre-order it directly from the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in French (Images à la Sauvette) or English (The Decisive Moment).

Nico,
Amsterdam.

[Soeren Engelbrecht]

I currently have it on loan from the local library. It took me quite a few "reads" to realize that Frank did work with "image pairs" and even triplets, even though there is only one picture per spread. They simply come on sequential right-hand pages, the left ones being reserved for captions.

And let me quote Jack Kerouac from the Introduction: "Anybody doesnt like these pitchers dont like potry, see ? ... To Robert Frank I now give this message: You got eyes". Apart from the creative spelling, I couldn't have said it better myself :-)

[Dean Johnston]

Hi.

The Darkroom Rumour is a photography centric documentary streaming site / service. Quite cheap - around the equiv. of US$50 a year (although, I just get it for around US$13 a month, now and then).

They have a Robert Frank documentary - Leaving Home, Coming Home.

Oh, and they also have the delightful Saul Leiter documentary In No Great Hurry.

Peace,
Dean

[John McMillin]

I was fortunate to catch a Robert Frank show at the Smithsonian several years ago. One of the exhibits deconstructed this bus image in detail. One of the few points I recall is how the order of the passengers, from left to right, happens to depict the pre-Civil Rights pecking order: a White man, a White Woman, White children, a Black man and a Black woman. Just a coincidence, or the work of a sharply trained eye? The passengers are obviously reacting to the man with a camera. The White faces look stern and defiant, the Black faces seem stoic, and the kids are simply curious. The rest of the photo is pure B&W sensuality, with the sheen of the steel bus grounding the composition, and above are enigmatic reflections that are ambiguous and suggestive; in the center, are we seeing three ghosts, or a small meeting of the KKK?

It would have been a strong image even without the socio-historic symbolism, but seen this way, it reads like a book.

[Kaz Diller]

It would be interested to learn what else you would include in your 'half a hundred' photography book collection.