Robert Frank was born in the fall of 1924 in Zürich, Switzerland. Throughout his early years, Frank gained a strong understanding of the hostility toward and persecution of the Jewish community, but during World War II, he and his family were safe. When he was 23 years old, he emigrated to New York City and was employed as a photographer for the women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, which is published by Hearst.

After spending a few years traveling to Europe and South America, he returned to New York to work as a freelance photojournalist for a handful of magazines, including Fortune and Vogue. After The Americans, his most recognizable work, was published in the United States in the late fifties, Frank would transition his focus to filmmaking. In 1972, he directed the controversial Rolling Stones documentary Cocksucker Blues, which was initially forbidden from being shown as it chronicled the band’s difficulties with fame, heavy drug use, and even their engagements in group sex.

In both his photography and films, Frank documented what individuals did not necessarily care to see in everyday life, as well as what they did not see at all. Frank’s artistic maturity remains incredibly influential among Jewish photographers and surely a handful of non-Jewish ones as well, and his unique style is certainly a result of his changing perception of the world, specifically America.

Artistically, The Americans deviated from the norm at the time, as critics thought the photographs in this book were blurry, uninviting, and too desolate. As Philip Gefter writes, “Mr. Frank’s photographs—of lone individuals, teenage couples, groups at funerals and odd spoors of cultural life—were cinematic, immediate, off-kilter and grainy, like early television transmissions of the period.” Today, we realize that this collection of black-and-white photographs that were once deemed meaningless captures themes from loneliness to innocence, and they all contain what Frank himself considers the most essential element of a photograph: “the humanity of the moment.”

Jack,

This is a fine beginning statement for your project. It’s not quite clear from it what you are planning to do going forward given the diversity of material and points of view that you have included. Here are a couple of pointers for you to consider (and some suggested edits):

First, shorten your paragraphs to accommodate online reading. For example, make a new paragraph starting “After the . . .”

Second, integrate the photos into the text itself rather than having them at the bottom.

Third, please put the links to articles cited (e.g. Gefter) into the text of the paragraph itself, as well as at the end in your sources.

You’ve done excellent research on Frank and I really like the title for your final project. I am looking forward to seeing how it develops.

DDM

Methodology: What are the methods your artist uses in his/her photography? How did you attempt to see through his/her point of view by taking your own photos?

Frank used what many admirers of his work would call a relatively simple approach to taking photographs, as he desired capturing things and ideas that were pure, natural, and not at all staged. He would take thousands of rolls of film in order to choose 83 images for The Americans, so there is most definitely a handful of photographs left over that someone could have thought were good enough to make the cut. Looking through this collection, it is almost like taking photographs was second nature to him, as it did not seem like he ever waited for the perfect moment to take out his camera and shoot. Instead, he wanted to actually be in the moment.

There is no one way to go through life in America or to achieve the American Dream, and Frank realizes that a countless number of Americans hit obstacles we might not see or be able to understand. I feel like this realization inspired Frank, who was an immigrant, to document what Americans often overlooked, whether it was a gentleman from a distance sitting alone at a park, or a mailbox in front a home in a rural neighborhood. A photograph of a recognizable individual smiling directly at the camera might make members of a photographer’s audience feel good, but it can definitely remind them and make them envious of the life they might not have, even if they know nothing else about the subject. In The Americans, most of Frank’s subjects are not even glancing at the camera, as he did not ask them to do anything for him before shooting. These intentionally imperfect images, including the ones that do not contain a person, emit emotions that are relatable and no one is exempt from experiencing at some point in their lives, and many individuals, including myself, turn to this fact for comfort.

From Robert Frank’s work I learned how to visualize things without being so obvious, especially things about which we should be skeptical. I learned that the simplest photograph might carry the greatest meaning.

-Maggie Steber

As everyone is most certainly aware of at this point, we are currently a part of an unprecedented situation in which we cannot yet predict its resolution. While we are advised to self-quarantine and practice social distancing, I live in an area where I do not necessarily have to take photographs of people that are similar to Frank’s in The Americans to display this inspiration. For example, my house is right across the street from my old elementary school, so I see a lot of potential there already. My hometown in general offers a very scenic environment, as there are many features that vary by neighborhood, like the hilliness of the roads and the size of and distance between the houses. One Frank photograph I hope to directly resemble, perhaps with one of my own family members, is Picnic ground – Glendale, California, which shows a man from a distance sitting alone on a bench in a park, as this photograph and the subject’s place within the image generates feelings of loneliness and maybe even neglect.

With just a shaft of light, the graceful gesture of a wrist, the juxtaposition of an unexpected frame, the world becomes transcendent and present.

-Matt Eich

I will take all of my photographs with my iPhone, using the black-and-white filter, to make them look like they could have been taken when Frank was working. I hope my photographs create the impression that they were not at all staged and end up representing the purity of not only nature itself, but of life’s imperfections.

Jack,

This is a thoughtful and ambitious methodology that you’ve proposed. You are paying close attention to different aspects of Frank’s photographs in The Americans. Not all of them involve people. You’re right that certain things caught Frank’s eye. One other thing you should be aware of: Frank took hundreds of rolls of film in order to choose 83 images for the book. So, don’t stint on the photographs you will take.

DDM

Photos & Analysis: Presentation of your own photographs inspired by that point of view. Text articulating what taking your own pictures taught you about the photographer’s point of view and its relevance. What is liberating about the point of view you’ve chosen to explore? How does it challenge you to look at the world differently?

As emphasized throughout, Robert Frank did not wait for the right moment to shoot. He was a mere spectator of the world around him, of the world that Americans at the time and still today would overlook or even look down upon. In his photographs that include at least one person, the subject does not look at the camera. Instead, every component of the image contributes to the raw and natural aesthetic that is the reason why so many photographers have cited Frank as an influence. When we consider Coleman’s commentary on Jewish photographers at the very beginning of the semester, one point of his we that continuously come back to is that Jewish photographers had a motivation to bear witness, and this cannot really be argued here.

The gallery below consists of all the photographs I took in my attempt to mimic Frank’s place as nothing more than an observer. I used a few of my siblings as subjects in the photographs in which I wanted to include human beings, but I also believe I took advantage of the interesting features of my hometown. My home in Short Hills, New Jersey is right across the street from my old elementary school, which I photographed below (second row; second image), and my neighborhood in particular contains some beautiful houses as well. In addition, a few of the images below are from inside my house, such as the image of my younger brother eating at the counter (first row; second image).

 

GALLERY

A photograph taken at a Hollywood movie premiere places the ostensible starlet out-of-focus, so that our eye is instead trained on the ordinary men and women on the wrong side of the proverbial velvet rope.

-Scott Indrisek

Aside from taking photographs around my neighborhood in Short Hills, I also was able to take photographs in a much more isolated part of the country. My stepfather has a house in Woolwich, Maine, a town with a population of just over 3,000 and a suburb of the city of Bath. It is actually the house he grew up in. I have been back home for about a month now due to the pandemic, and a few weeks ago, before states started declaring stay-at-home mandates, my mother, two brothers and I drove up and stayed there for a week. I took a handful of photographs around the house, as I had a lot of property to work with, along with the fact that this location is definitely a lot more scenic.

Both photographs I am using for my selected photos below were taken during that week in Maine. I took the photograph on the left from the deck in the back of the house. I like the angle from which I shot this image because it covers a lot of land and there is a lot of shadow all over the lawn from the trees and the clouds. The body of water between my stepfather’s house and his neighbor’s house in the middle of the photograph is the Kennebec River. There is a more grand view of the river in the photograph on the right, which I also enjoy. The woman sitting down is my stepsister, and I think this resembles Frank’s style in that the direction she is looking makes it seem like I did not interact with her before shooting, or that she was unaware that I was photographing her. The background is also fascinating, as we have a clearer view of the river. One thing I did not notice while taking this particular photograph was how the light was layered from front to back. The river behind the trees is relatively lighter than the lawn covered by shadows, and the deck my stepsister is sitting on is somewhat of a middle ground. While it might be a bit of a stretch, even though it was unintentional, this incorporation of shadows and layering depending on light is a method that someone influenced by André Kertész would use.

SELECTED PHOTOS

It wasn’t true, but my sympathies were with people who struggled. There was also my mistrust of people who made the rules.

-Robert Frank (Bakare)

SLIDESHOW 1

One photograph of Frank’s that has this interesting layering of light is the second photograph from the top in the left hand column, Rooming house – Bunker Hill, Los Angeles (in Slideshow 2). The subject’s face is somewhat hidden behind the stairwell, but one thing I noticed immediately was the shade created by the stairwell. Looking at the subject’s position, it’s almost as if the individual is blending in with the darkness. One might obtain a sense of eeriness as they examine this particular image.

My attempt to take photographs similar to those of Robert Frank certainly came with some challenges. First of all, and my fellow students would almost surely agree, the ongoing pandemic has been a major obstacle with nearly every component of my everyday life. Being permitted to be around other people since I started taking pictures would have allowed me to be a little more creative and diverse with my selections, but my immediate family were totally cooperative and understood what I was trying to demonstrate. I could not take a whole lot of photographs of moving objects as there have not been many cars on the road over the last few weeks. However, I did not think I had to drive anywhere myself to get a good photograph, since my hometown and my stepfather’s surrounding property had a lot of potential. Overall, taking into account the current situation, I think I captured some interesting photographs and am proud of stepping outside the box.

SLIDESHOW 2

He looked beneath the surface seeing these ills in American society but he also photographed novel areas of beauty within the country. Many of them have this sort of fast, seemingly intuitive look as if he just turned around and captured the image, creating a sense of dynamism.

-Sarah Greeno

If I was in my early twenties in the late fifties and very interested in photography, I do not know how I would have reacted to Robert Frank’s emergence. My research on Frank has been quite liberating because I am often fascinated by people, whether it is a musician, a filmmaker, an athlete, or in this case, a photographer, that are ahead of their time. His work not only tells a story, but is incredibly relatable, and he, despite being subject to plenty of criticism when The Americans was published, became responsible for the careers of several photographers in the following decades.

Jack,

You’ve presented a diverse group of photographs, although you decided to emphasize the ones taken up in Maine. What you write about the one of your step-sister on the deck, with the river behind, is very good and does take into account issues of light and angle that together create a kind of mood. Your first road picture does as well, and I’m surprised that you didn’t include any of Frank’s road pictures in the second slideshow. I also like the photograph of the guitar. It is a type of interior shot that Frank might have noticed but I see that you don’t include it in your slideshow. Perhaps swap out one of the road photographs for the guitar. In your two slideshows, think about the type of conversation you would like to establish between your photographs and those of Frank.

DDM

Conclusion: Did you come to understand your Jewish photographer differently after taking your own photos? What did you learn about your thesis?

The Americans is a diverse collection of photographs from a various parts of the country, but since many people at the time perceived Frank’s work meaningless, some of those critics most certainly called him out for being lazy, when he was the exact opposite. Like many artists, Frank did not publish these images for acclaim, but rather to make a statement and, unveil America to itself. We might not be able to identify the details behind one of Frank’s subjects simply by looking at a photograph, but everything on the surface is beautifully raw and incredibly relatable, and it is hard to believe that this idea was initially written off. “The humanity of the moment” is in fact the most essential feature in every image here, and I tried to make it such in my own photographs. Someone unfamiliar with the work of Robert Frank might react to my photographs similarly to how people initially reacted to Frank’s emergence in the twentieth century.

I came to understand that while many photographs in The Americans might be subtle or look intentionally unclear, the amount of risk Frank took during this time of his career was much needed. Art will always be a subjective thing, especially in terms of how one uses it as an outlet or interprets it in general. Even if the artist makes known his inspiration and the meaning behind a photograph or a piece of music, this does not stop anyone from making a connection between the art and his or her life, and I believe this concept was a big inspiration for Frank. Like the work of many great artists, there is a powerful message being presented, but the artists never skimp on the art itself, as what the viewer sees is at the forefront.

All in all, Robert Frank was a one-of-a-kind Jewish photographer who will continue to influence many artists for decades to come.

Jack,

Your conclusion is OK but a little general. Try to answer the question posed: did you come to understand Frank differently as a result of this project? It’s fine to mention changing opinions of Frank but what about your own understanding of Frank?

Please be sure to identify Frank’s photographs when you revise for the final version.

DDM

Sources: List of all your sources with hyperlinks. Be sure to separate photo sources from written research sources.

Articles (in order of appearance):

Robert Frank Dies; Pivotal Documentary Photographer Was 94 (1)

How Robert Frank’s Vision Influenced And Inspired Generations Of Photographers (2, 3)

Why Robert Frank’s “The Americans” Matters Today (4)

Robert Frank, revolutionary American photographer, dies aged 94 (5)

Videos:

How acclaimed photographer Robert Frank examined America ‘beneath the surface’ (6)

Books:

Robert Frank, The Americans

Photographs (in order of appearance):

Motorama – Los Angeles

Bar – Las Vegas, Nevada

Trolley – New Orleans

Men’s room, railway station – Memphis, Tennessee

Picnic ground – Glendale, California

Bank – Houston, Texas

Georgetown, South Carolina

Rooming house – Bunker Hill, Los Angeles

Yom Kippur – East River, New York City

Navy Recruiting Station, Post Office – Butte, Montana

Public park – Ann Arbor, Michigan

Drive-in movie – Detroit

Backyard – Venice West, California

Restaurant – U.S. 1 leaving Columbia, South Carolina

Coffee shop, railway station – Indianapolis

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