“When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the same way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.” -Robert Frank
In 1954, Robert Frank began his famous drive around the U.S. shooting images (est. 28,000 shots total) and compiled them into his book, “The Americans,” which was published in the U.S. in 1959. Containing 83 images, “The Americans” is his best known work and considered by some to be the most famous photography book ever. However, when it was first published, it was met by great criticism in the United States and led to Frank slowing turning away from photographer to film making. Most of his films are described as ‘an intense, searching, even melancholic self scrutiny couched in the form of fictional or semi documentary narrative.’
Following the death of his daughter, Andrea, in 1974 and the diagnosis of his son, Pablo, with schizophrenia shortly afterwards, Frank turned back to photography. However, he reinvented his work and produced images that were more artwork and less controlled than his earlier work.
Since then, Frank has turned into a recluse; avoiding the public and declining requests for interviews.
A new edition of “The Americans” will be released world wide on May 15, 2008 in celebration of 50th anniversary of the first publication (Paris in 1958). In 2009, A celebratory exhibit of “The Americans” will be displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
For more information regarding Robert Frank and a view at some of the resources used, please visit the following links:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n3_v84/ai_18119055
http://www.steidlville.com/books/695-The-Americans.html
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/04/frank200804
