Robert Frank: An Unconventional Photographer
Robert Frank was born in Switzerland in 1924, and began studying photography in his 20’s. He died in 2019 at the age of 94. After working in commercial and graphic design photography for six years, he came to the U.S. in 1947, and began working as a fashion photographer. His love for the use of his “unconventional” 35-millimeter Leica and dislike of the fashion industry photography limitations, had him resigning from anything fashion related within a few months. He moved on for five years working as a freelance producing photojournalist and advertising photographer for LIFE, Vogue, Look, Charm, and others. His "unconventional" style of street photography included an odd like of composition, cropping, and shadows.
However, Robert soon began to grow frustrated that his work was not being in Europe:
“From 1949 to 1953 Frank wandered restlessly, traveling back and forth between New York and Europe. In each place, he focused on one or two subjects that expressed his understanding of the people and their culture—chairs and flowers in Paris, bankers in London, and miners in Wales.”
“However, although he was hailed as “a poet with a camera” and won important champions, such as Edward Steichen, director of the department of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, his photographic sequences were rarely published.”
- National Gallery of Art.
Ultimately, this is what resulted in his motivation to apply to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for a fellowship in 1954. He wrote on his application: “to photograph freely throughout the United States” and to “make a broad voluminous picture record of things American”. It was this fellowship that allowed him to travel throughout the U.S. collecting photos that resulted in his claim to fame.
After getting the Guggenheim Fellowship, he traveled around the country for a year (1955 - 1956) collecting about 27,000 photographs that would later result in his claim to fame, a book titled 'The Americans'. He would only use 83 photos for his book! This book was a big source of controversy after being published in the U.S. in 1959 (Europe was first - 1957). ‘The Americans’ was quite revolutionary at the time, a controversial look into the soul of the United States. His raw and bitterly honest view of American culture shocked many.
“Mr. Frank, best known for his groundbreaking book, “The Americans,” had a visually raw and personally expressive style that made him one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century.”
- New York Times, 2019.
Some quotes from Robert Frank himself:
“I had to pretend I wasn’t taking photos”
- Perhaps this is what resulted in the unconventional cropping...or was it just his style? How about a bit of both!?
“I would walk day after day hunting for pictures….That’s how these [photos from ‘The Americans’] were made”
“Sometimes you know when you’ve got a good picture, but not always….Sometimes it’s a surprise”.
See an interview with Robert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kMwnmrL5FM
The girl smoking, pictured above at the top of this blog, is my favorite as I think it really shows why 'The Americans' was a controversial book; who would want to show the world that a girl not more than 10 years old is holding a cigarette, and have it represent our country? The composition of this photo really nails the "street photography" aspect, really playing into the simplicity of the moment, where he was able to really capture the emotion going on.
Ultimately, Robert died a happily married man, who dreams of being a published photographer came true.
No comments:
Post a Comment