{"id":6962,"date":"2022-10-25T20:15:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T20:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/liberatinglens\/?page_id=6962"},"modified":"2022-12-10T13:39:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T13:39:05","slug":"said-omar-ahmed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/liberatinglens\/said-omar-ahmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Said, Omar Ahmed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thesis & Background<\/h2>\n
\n\n

Robert Frank is one of the most significant and influential Jewish photographers in the 20th century. He was known for his photobook, <\/span>The Americans<\/span><\/i>, which showed an outsider’s view of American society. What makes this photobook so special is the way Robert Frank approached it. In an interview, he talked about how it was his first time where he had the freedom of what he felt he could do, which was to document what he saw. Also he mentioned how he always had his camera on him, which allowed him to take pictures in the moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Frank also changed the way to think and take pictures; unconventional composition, blurry subjects, imprecise focus, and the usage of grainy films, which shaped how photographs are taken today. His photos also shifted the focus of photography from celebrity and idealized figures to focus on everyday people. He showed what actually happens in America behind all the public images. At first his photobook was heavily criticized by critics saying how the photos were considered low quality and flawed. This criticism was mostly due to the fact of how different The American was compared to other photo books. Robert Frank wanted to depict photographs that showed emotion and in order to do that he had to experiment with different techniques in photographing, printing, and presenting his work. This motivation came from his previous teacher Alexey Brodovitch. Robert Frank once said that Brodovitch \u201cencouraged students to use blur, imprecise focus, large foreground forms, bleach negatives, radically crop and distort print, or print two photographs on top of each other, put gauze over lens of enlargers \u2013 to not capture facts of scene but to experience it\u201d(1). But nowadays critics think of The American as one of the most iconic photo books from the 20th century, it redefined what a photobook could be and at the same time really showed the true colors of America.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I personally chose this book because of how I connect with Robert Frank. I am currently in somewhat of a similar situation, a person that did not live in America before, visiting it to pursue a career\/academics. Like him, I am considered an outsider in America. The whole idea of Frank going to America to take pictures of the people and environment motivated me to approach in a similar way where I won\u2019t picture America as a whole but of the city of Ann Arbor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I chose those three photographs because those were the things Robert Frank found amusing when he was depicted in America. The concept of having the American flag everywhere is something I also see now in America. Also the Drive-in movie theater was something special that he found in America. I am hoping that I could take photographs about things that I find interesting and new in Ann Arbor like the Big House Stadium.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Being an outsider like Robert Frank, I have a different perspective on American culture due to the fact that I grew up in a totally different place. Frank\u2019s work really motivated me to try to portray Ann Arbor in a similar way to how he portrayed America in his photo book, which was through the people. I want to portray Ann Arbor also through the people by showing how diverse of a place it is. The best way to describe a certain place or situation is to focus on the people that are relevant to that location.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\".<\/p>\n

“Fourth of July” – Jay, New York<\/p>\n

Robert Frank<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Parade” – Hoboken, New Jersey<\/p>\n

Robert Frank<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Drive-In Movie” – Detroit, Michigan<\/p>\n

Robert Frank<\/p>\n\n<\/div>

Methodology<\/h2>\n
\n\n

As the title suggested, Most of the photos in <\/span>The Americans<\/span><\/i> were focused on the regular people rather than the infrastructure or celebrities. As mentioned before, Frank used unconventional techniques such as imprecise focus, manipulation of juxtaposition, large foreground forms, and printing the photos with extreme contrast. Also most of Frank\u2019s photos were not staged. I am planning to take a similar picture where I will focus on the depicted diversity, in people, within Ann Arbor. I am planning to incorporate imprecise focus by taking pictures during the night time. I am also planning to incorporate large foreground forms by playing with the lens and trying to take the photos in different angles and positions. This would help add more background to the photo, setting a scene for the photo. I am planning to take the picture near Central Campus and I will be taking those photos next week(November 7 – 11). I will try to also take different photos that would have some common theme, which would help when it comes to organizing my portfolio. As I claimed before, the best method of describing a place is to take a picture of the people. My approach will focus on the people in the picture which would tell us more about the place rather than just taking photos of the place itself. Here is an example of a photo where Frank took of the people walking in a market. This photo was not staged and it explains a lot about the place (in this case New Orleans, Louisiana).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Canal Street” – New Orleans, Louisiana<\/p>\n