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Robert Frank’s“The Americans”:Timeless Lessons

StreetPhotographers

Can LearnJanuary 7, 2013 By Eric Kim — 43

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“The Americans” by Robert Frank isone of the most influential photobooks published of all-time. It hasinspired countless numbers ofphotographers across all genres,especially appealing to documentaryand street photographers. I know thebook has had a profound impact onmy photography and how I approachprojects.

While I am not an expert on RobertFrank or “The Americans”, I willshare what I personally have learnedfrom his work. For your reference, Iused Steidl’s “Looking In: RobertFrank’s The Americans” as aprimary resource for this article. Thearticle is incredibly long, and Iencourage you to read it not all inone sitting, but in different phases.

I would also highly recommend

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saving this article and reading it onInstapaper or Pocket. These servicesallow you to save the article to readlater on your phone, iPad, computer,etc.

Introduction“The Americans” is a photographybook by Swiss-born Robert Frank,published first in France (1958) andthen in the US (1959). It consisted of83 photographs, with only onephotograph per page. I am certainthat many of you are familiar withRobert Frank and “The Americans”.But for those of you who are not asfamiliar with “The Americans” let’saddress why it was so important andinfluential.

Why was “TheAmericans” soinfluential?

Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey, 1955©Robert Frank

http://www.instapaper.com/

http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2013/01/07/timeless-lessons-street-photographers-can-learn-from-robert-franks-the-americans/getpocket.com



“The Americans” was influential forseveral reasons. I will try my best tooutline why I perceive it to be soinfluential:

1. It challenged thedocumentarytradition

During the era that Frank published“The Americans”, documentaryphotography was seen to be assomething transparent and not to beinfluenced by the thoughts,emotions, or viewpoint of thephotographer. A quote from thebook on “Looking In: TheAmericans”:

“In the late 1950s and early1960s neither TheAmericans nor Frank’swork made on hisGuggenheim fellowshipwere well received,especially by thephotography press. Edgy,critical, and often opaqueat a time whenphotography was generallyunderstood to bewholesome, simplistic, andpatently transparent, thephotographs disconcerted

“



editors even before thebook was published.”

When Robert Frank worked on theAmericans, consider it from hisviewpoint. He was Swiss-born, andhe saw America from an outsiderperspective. Although his work wasa labor of love, he clearly showed theugly parts of American society,which included mass consumerism,racism, and the divide between therich and poor.

Frank was clear in saying that hiswork was a personal account ofAmerica, as he mentioned in U.S.Camera Annual 1958. Frank sharedthat the book was “…personal and,therefore, various facets ofAmerican society and life have beenignored.”

Through “The Americans” Frankwanted to highlight the darker sideof America which hadn’t beenshown before.

2. It challenged theaesthetic ofphotography

During the 1950’s, the tradition andaesthetic of photography



championed clean, well-exposed,and sharp photographs. Technicalperfection was considered king.However in Frank’s “TheAmericans”, he was first harshlycriticized by critics saying things likethe prints were “Flawed bymeaningless blur grain, muddyexposure, drunken horizons, andgeneral sloppiness”.

Not only that, but critics would seeFrank as having “contempt for anystandards of quality or discipline intechnique.” To better understandwhere Frank got his gritty aestheticfrom, let us explore a bit of hisbackground: When Frank startedphotography in his early twenties, hestudied with Alexey Brodovitch, aRussian-born innovator for Harper’sBazaar. Brodovitch was well knownfor turning the magazine fromhaving drab and boring photographsand adding dynamic montages ofphotos and text.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Brodovitch



Haarper’s Bazaar spread by AlexeyBrodovitch

What Frank learned fromBrodovitch was “to respond tosituations not analytically orintellectually but emotionally and tocreate highly original works of artthat reflected their personal respondto their environment.”

Therefore Frank learned that inorder to create emotionalphotographs, he needed toexperiment with differenttechniques in photographing,printing, and presenting his work.Brodovitch was experimental, and“encouraged students to use blur,imprecise focus, large foregroundforms, bleach negatives, radicallycrop and distort print, or print twophotographs on top of each other,put gauze over lens of enlargers – tonot capture facts of scene but toexperience it.”



This mentorship from Brodovitchhad a strong influence on the youngRobert Frank. From his work leadingup to “The Americans”, he did verymuch that. He would often shoot atnight using imprecise focus,incorporated blur into his work, andwould use grainy film. Not only that,but Frank experimented printing hisphotographs with extreme contrast(disregarding the need to create animage with good tonal range),printing in extreme shapes(trapezoids), and would cropradically.

Therefore when Frank shot “TheAmericans”, he kept those sameaesthetics. If you look closely at hiscontact sheets, many of hisphotographs were either too bright,too dark, so off-balance, and out-of-focus that “Frank seems at times noteven to have looked through theviewfinder or bothered to check thecontrols on his camera.”



Original shot of Frank’s “Ranch Market,Hollywood” shot – note how it is

underexposed.

The final printed image. Ranch Market,Hollywood, 1955-56. © Robert Frank

Frank certainly did this with thepurpose to better convey the feelingsthat he had about America– thedark, alienating, and foreign. Notonly from Brodovitch, but he alsohad many other influences from hisstudy of abstract expressionistpainters such as Franz Kline andWillem de Kooning. From them helearned the following:

“[Frank] had learned aboutthe relationship betweentone and scale to the

“

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kline

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_de_Kooning



sensation of weight, and herecognized that shadows orout-of-focus forms neednot be legible – could evenapproach abstraction – andstill be highly evocative.With this understanding,his photographs becamenot merely unclear in theirsubjects and casual in theirstyle but also potent,deeply haunting, anddeliberately ambiguous.”

Therefore through this examinationof his studies with Brodovitch andhis inspiration from abstractexpressionist painters such as FranzKline and Willem de Kooning, heused this gritty aesthetic deliberatelyfor “The Americans”.

Illustration by Franz Kline. You can seehow the dark lines, forms, and contrasthave inspired Frank’s gritty b/w work.



Painting by Willem de Kooning,“Woman and Bicycle”

Did it piss off the critics? It certainlydid, who simply thought that Frankwas being sloppy and lackingtechnique. But it was through hisexperimentation and going againstthe grain of the style of whateveryone was photographing at thetime — did he create a meaningfuland memorable project.

3. It challenged therules ofphotography, andemphasized feeling



Not only did Frank challenge howhe approached documentaryphotography and the aesthetic inwhich he employed– he also createdimages with an emphasis on feelingabove all else. Frank says this abouthis own work:

“The photograph must bethe result of a head to head,a confrontation with apower, a force that oneinterrogates or questions.”

To create images that are docile andstraightforward aren’t enough forFrank. Rather, he wants to createimages that are full of power, energy,and ask questions. He didn’t want tocreate a “picture that really said it all,that was a masterpiece.” Rather, hewould try to create images that hewould gain feeling and emotionfrom the photos. An excerpt from“Looking In” also shows thechallenge that Frank faced at thetime:

“Rebelling against thepopular 1950s notionchampioned by EdwardSteichen and others thatphotography was a

“

“



universal language, easilyunderstood by all, hewanted a form that wasopen-ended, evendeliberately ambiguous-one that engaged hisviewers, rewarded theirprolonged consideration,and perhaps even left themwith as many questions asanswers.”

Therefore in “The Americans”, hedidn’t want to create simply astraightforward documentation ofAmerica that was more “objective”.Rather, he took very subjectivephotographs that challenged theviewers of “The Americans” to askthemselves what they were lookingat — and to challenge their ownviews and prejudices about America.

4. It focused less onthe “single image”

When Robert Frank decided to startshooting “The Americans”, “straightphotography” was the favored style– in which single images, notprojects, were king. “Looking in”elaborates:

“



“‘Straight’ photographywas a favored term whenboth men began tophotograph. A Linchpin of“modern” photography, inthe United States at least,this approach emphasizedrelatively un-manipulatedprints made form a singlenegative, with glory givento the work thatsummarized an instant intoa supreme moment ofbeauty of humanunderstanding. [Frankdidn’t pledge] allegiance tosuch “pure” photography,in which a single, greatexposure was the ultimateachievement“.

Therefore by working on thisproject, Frank was less interestedabout creating single powerfulimages (as many photographers onsocial media do nowadays as well).Rather, he was more interested increating a strong body of work inwhich his interpretation of Americawouldn’t be summed up in a singleimage- but rather through all of hisimages as a collective.

Why Frank Decided

“



To Shoot “TheAmericans”

Picnic Ground-Glendale, California,1958 © Robert Frank

Frank was born in Switzerland to amiddle-class family and securedsolid photography training there.His early influences were some ofthe most important Swissphotographers, editors, anddesigners such as Arnold Kubler,Gotthard Schuh, and JakobTuggener.

http://www.steidlville.com/artists/412-Jakob-Tuggener.html

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_K%C3%BCbler

http://www.galerievu.com/artiste.php?id_photographe=35



Gotthard Schuh: Miner, Winterslag,Belgium, 1937

“Fabrik, A Photo Epos of Technology”by Jakob Tuggener




Although he had great inspirationalfigures in Switzerland Frankreported:

“I wanted to get out ofSwitzerland. I didn’t wantto build my future there.The country was tooclosed, too small for me.”

Therefore he embarked on a journeyto America, and spent a considerableamount of time in NYC, where hemet some of the most influentialphotographers and curators at thetime including Andre Kertesz,Walker Evans, Louis Faurer, andEdward Steichen.

However in around 1953, Frankbecame discouraged after wanderingand shooting the streets of NYC forabout 6 years. One of his mainfrustrations was that he couldn’t gethis photographs published morewidely. For example, he would oftenbe rejected by LIFE magazine topublish his work. Frank shares hisfrustrations and his disdain for thestories made for LIFE:

“I developed a tremendouscontempt for LIFE, which

“

“



helped me. You have to beenraged. I also wanted tofollow my own intuitionand do it my own way, andto make concessions – notmake a LIFE story. Thatwas another thing I hated.Those goddamned storieswith a beginning and anend. If I hate all thosestories with a beginning, amiddle, and an end thenobviously I will make aneffort to producesomething that will standup to those stories but notbe like them”.

Not only that, but he was alsorejected when he applied formembership to the prestigiousMagnum Photo Agency. After abrief hiatus in Switzerland, he wentback to the states and said, “This isthe last time that I go back to NewYork and try to reach the topthrough my personal work.”



City Hall, Reno, Nevada, 1956 © RobertFrank

What ensued afterwards washistory. Through support fromWalker Evans, Edward Steichen,and Alexey Brodovitch – he appliedfor a Guggenheim fellowship tomake a book on America to reveal“the kind of civilization born hereand spreading elsewhere.” Withgreat fortune, he became the firstEuropean-born photographer to beawarded the Guggenheim in 1955.

When Frank embarked tophotograph “The Americans”, hetraveled over 10,000 miles across 30states in 9 months. Upon returningto New York in the June of 1956, hespent nearly a year developing his767 rolls of film, making contactssheets from which he made 1000work prints. After that, he refinedhis selection and then establishedthe sequence for the book.

Frank’s Early



InspirationsBefore Frank went on to shoot “TheAmericans” he learned many lessonsfrom his mentors.

1. Lessons fromWalker Evans (onworking in amethodologicalmanner)

Walker Evans, the already famousphotographer for taking his“American Photographs” book wasone of Frank’s early mentors. Notonly did Evans champion Frank’swork, but Frank learned manylessons from him (although theirstyles were quite different). Frankworked in a very sociological,methodological manner – oftenutilizing a large-format camera andwanted to create transparent and“objective” photographs. On oneaccount, when Frank went out toshoot with Evans, Frank noted howit was important to be morereflective (rather than spontaneous)when photographing.

However at the end of the day,Frank shot much more with withemotion and feel – utilizing a small




Leica rangefinder, which was moresporadic and vigorous.

Barber shop interior, Atlanta, Georgia,1936. Photograph by Walker Evans

“Looking In” mentions thedifference between Evans’ andFrank’s working styles:

“Evans had alsophotographed people inthe south, but he had oftengotten to know them first,as in his work with JamesAgee for their celebratedbook ‘Let Us Now PraiseFamous Men’ (1941). Frankmade no similar effort andrarely conversed with thepeople he photographed,for despite what waswritten in his Guggenheimapplication, his intentionwas not sociological,analytical, or documentary.

“



Responding to the country,as he later said, not by“looking at it but by feelingsomething from it.”

Frank acted very much like thedetached observer whenphotographing, and didn’t strive tomake a sociological or analyticalview like Evans did. Rather to Frank,the feeling that the viewer got fromthe photograph was the mostimportant.

Takeaway point: It is important forus to know our own tendencies (interms of our shooting styles)whether we tend to be morecontemplative or sporadic. Weshould strive to balance ourselvesout. For example, if we tend tophotograph slowly, we can gain skillby trying to photograph quicker. Ifwe are much more sporadic andvigorous when shooting streetphotography, we should slow downand try to be more contemplative.But at the end of the day, it isimportant to know your true self andstyle – and stick mainly with it.

2. Lessons fromHenri Cartier-



Bresson (oninspiration,influences, andoriginality)

Children in Seville, Spain, 1933. © HenriCartier-Bresson

When Frank first moved to NYC,one of the first photographyexhibitions he saw was by HenriCartier-Bresson at the MOMA.Cartier-Bresson’s work had a hugeimpact on Frank that challenged himto take his photography to the nextlevel. “Looking In” shares:

“Frank quickly learnedfrom and assimilated newinfluences, often only toturn against them afterextracting that all he founduseful, a pattern thatrepeated itself throughouthis life. Within the firstthree weeks of his arrival inNew York, he visited the

“



Henri Cartier-Bressonexhibition at the Museumof Modern Art, among thelast of the exhibitions thatBeaumont and NancyNewhall organized here.Frank was deeplyimpressed, it challengedhim to become more than afashion photographer.

Furthermore Cartier-Bresson’sexhibition showed Frank the powerof photography and how manyopportunities it presented:

Frank said later that seeingthat exhibition “Was avery good instruction.” Hesaw that the field ofphotography was muchbroader and more open tohim, continuing: “I had thefeeling that I could dosomething else. I just sawpossibilities. I wanted to trythem and do them.”

Although Frank obtained a greatdeal of inspiration from HenriCartier-Bresson, he still felt it wasimportant to have his own vision.He also touches on how equipment

“



wasn’t as important as creating yourown unique work. Frank says:

“To do good work youneed a further intelligence.And you can’t just imitatea famous 35mmphotographer. Cartier-Bresson won’t help, wide-angle lenses won’t helpeither.”

Takeaway point: Therefore to sumup, Frank believed the importance ofhaving role models and otherphotographers to draw inspirationfrom. However he realized thatmerely imitating their aesthetic orusing the focal lengths that theyused wouldn’t create interesting orunique art. So don’t try to simplyimitate photographers you look upto. Draw inspiration from them, butstrive towards your own vision. Ohyeah, and having certain cameras orlenses will do little in creatingunique work (they knew that evenhalf a century ago).

3. Lessons fromEdward Steichen (ongetting closer toyour subjects /

“



keeping yourphotography andincome separate)

Robert Frank and Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen, one of the mostinfluential and importantphotographer curators of all timegave the young Frank lots of greatadvice when it came to hisphotography. In a letter dated April2, 1952 Steichen advised Frank theimportance of getting closer to hissubjects, not just physically butemotionally:

“I sometimes feel that Iwould like to see you morein closer to people. It seemsto me that you are readynow to begin probingbeyond environment intothe soul of man. I believeyou made a fine decision intaking yourself and family

“



away from the tenseness ofthe business ofphotography there. Youmust let every moment ofthe freedom you are havingcontribute to your growingand growing. Just as themicroscope and thetelescope seek a still closerlook at the universe, we asphotographer must seek topenetrate deeper and closerinto our brothers. Pleaseexcuse if this sounds likepreaching. It is dictated byan interest and affectionfor you and yours.”

Steichen saw Frank’s strength atcapturing the environment andmood of his subjects, but stressedthe importance of getting to know“the soul of man”. Steichen onlythought it would be possible forFrank to do this by spending moretime getting in-depth with thesubjects that he captured, to get toknow the small nuances and whatmade his subjects unique.

After hearing this advice, Frank wasinspired to go to Caerau, Wales in1953, where he photographed a minernamed Ben James for several days.



Frank lived with him in his homeand photographed his entire day.Frank would rise with him, followhim to work, even late into thenight. This would be great earlytraining in the early tradition ofdocumentary photography to helphim immerse himself into his“Americans” project.

Ben James, Wales 1953. © Robert Frank

Steichen also gave Frank somepractical advice with hisphotography (that carries lots ofpractical value today as well) on notdoing photography full-time. Thatis, to practice photography on theside while getting a source of incomeelsewhere. Steichen stressed theimportance of getting an incomeelsewhere to keep photographyseparate from the need to earn aliving – to truly focus on thephotography without anyconstraints. As Frank recalled,Steichen told him the following:

“



“It is better to be a plumberin the daytime so you canbe a photographer at nighttime.”

Takeaway point: Although Frankdidn’t entirely listen to Steichen (forthe rest of his career he pursuedvideo-making and his photography)I think it carries great value forphotographers today. Many of usdon’t have the luxury or the chanceto pursue our photography full-time.Although many of us dream ofmaking our photography a living,Steichen’s advice of keeping yourphotography and work separatecarries strong weight. Don’t thinkthat your day job prevents you fromcreating strong photographic work –rather see it as something that willhelp support you and in yourphotography.

4. Lessons fromBrodovitch (onequipment andtaking risks)

“



Robert Frank and his Leica

When Frank was a youngphotographer, he shot mostly with amedium-format square-formatRolleiflex camera. However AlexeyBrodovitch, a Russian-bornphotographer, designer andinstructor (who Frank looked up to)suggested him to ditch the Rolleiflexfor a 35mm Leica. Brodovitchsuggested that the Leica could createmore fluid, immediate images,whereas the Rolleiflex was muchslower and bulkier by comparison.

Furthermore, Brodovitchencouraged Frank to “unlearn hismethodological Swiss habits and



taught him to take risks”. You cansee that Frank took up Brodovitch’sadvice by leaving his comfortablehome of Switzerland to pursuephotography in NYC.

Takeaway point: You don’t need toshoot with a Leica to be a great streetphotographer. However at the time,the Leica was the smallest,most maneuverable, and quickestcamera to use. Therefore in today’sterms, I would advise against using abulky DSLR and perhaps using amore nimble camera like a Micro4/3rds, compact camera, or even aniPhone. Of course you can stillcreate great work with a DSLR butnote that it may weigh you down.

How FrankPrepared his Tripto Photograph “TheAmericans”

Café-Beaufort, South Carolina, 1955 ©Robert Frank



For those of you who are curioushow Frank prepared his trip tophotograph “The Americans” belowis a rough itinerary of what heprepared:

1. Gathered maps and itinerariesfrom the American AutomobileAssociation

2. Collected letters of referencefrom the GuggenheimFoundation and friends in thepress (in-case people questionedhis photographing intentions)

3. Introductions to representativesto industries around thecountry (to capture a widevariety of images)

4. Suggestions from fellowphotographers of places to visit

Walker Evans: The SouhBen Schultz and ToddWalker: Los AngelesWayne Miller: SanFrancisco

Frank also prepared some symbolsthat he wanted to pursue/capture:

1. Flags2. Cowboys3. Rich Socialites4. Juke-boxes5. Politicians



Frank also numbered his rolls of filmin chronological order and labeledaccording to location. He alsosometimes labeled his film accordingto subject matter.

Subject matterthat Frank Endedup PhotographingBelow are some re-occurringsubjects that he ended upphotographing in his trips aroundthe U.S.

1. Cars (photos. 77,78, 80)



US 90 on route to Del Rio, Texas 1955-56.© Robert Frank

Frank saw how cars isolated people,separated them from surroundings.

2. American LunchCounters (photo. 69)

Drugstore lunch counter, Detroit, 1955. ©Robert Frank

Frank was fascinated by AmericanLunch Counters, especially howstrangers would sit next to eachother while eating. This wassomething very different from whatEuropeans would do.

3. Consumerism



Store Window, Washington DC, 1955-56.© Robert Frank

When traveling around the states,Frank was surprised to see howpowerful the role of consumerismculture was in American life. He sawthe over-abundance of choices, withpeople constantly bombarded bysigns, cards, newspapers, magazines,and advertisements.

4. Suburbs

Drive-in movie, Detroit 1955 © RobertFrank

Frank was interested in the suburbs,in the sense of how Americans werebecoming much more solitary innature. For example a photograph hetook of a drive-in movie theater in a



Detroit suburb showed the lonelybeauty of watching a movie alone byyourself. Whereas in the pastwatching a movie was done side-by-side others in a communal type-of-way.

5. Public parks

Public Park, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955-56. ©Robert Frank

Frank was drawn how in publicparks people would mix in together,and also be totally unaware of hiscamera.

6. Cemeteries(photos. 80, 74)



© Robert Frank

Frank photographed severalcemeteries in his journeys, and triedto capture their emotional resonanceand somberness.

7. Juke-boxes(photos. 17, 65, 67,43)

Bar, NYC, 1955-56. © Robert Frank



Frank found the jukeboxes to bequite hypnotic – and expressive ofthe allure of American music.

The Working Styleof Robert Frank

Men’s Room, Railway Station, Memphis,1955 © Robert Frank

When Frank photographed “TheAmericans”, he learned much of hisworking style from Walker Evans.An excerpt from “Looking in”which shows how Frank learned tobe much more patient whenphotographing from Evans:

“When Frank helpedEvans photograph tools forFortune, he “learned whatit is to be simple” and “tolook at one thing and lookat it very clearly and in afinal way”. Frank wasimpressed with Evan’scareful observation of his

“



subjects and his patience inwaiting until the lightrevealed the scene exactlyas he wanted to picture it.Although patience wasnever an attribute Frankvalued or cultivated, keenobservation and simplicityproved invaluable to himin the coming months.”

Although Frank discovered theimportance of being patient in hisworking methods, Frank was alsomore intuitive and photographedquite swiftly. In the excerpt below itexplains how he would take severalexposures decisively and work quitefluidly:

“The year before, when hehad photographedcowboys at Madison squaregarden or socialites at thetoy ball, he had made manyexposures of the peopleand the scenes thatinterested him, no doubthoping that an editorwould find one of use. Butnow, with the knowledgethat he had plenty ofmaterials, a full year towork on the project, and

“



no one to please buthimself, he respondedmore immediately andintuitively. He took one,two, or three exposures,swiftly, surely, anddecisively, and then movedon, for he recognized,“First thought, bestthought…When onereleases a second time,there is already a momentlost.”

Over time when Frank worked on“The Americans” his working styleevolved into being much moregraceful and casual. “Looking in”elaborates on this point:

“In the coming months, ashe gained more confidencein his new approach andworked himself into whathe later referred to as a“State of grace”, Frank’sstyle became looser, morecasual, even gestural, andall about movement. […]Frank photographed hissubjects with their backs tothe camera, their facespartially obscured, orlooming ominously in the

“



foreground, as if they wereabout to turn and confronthim (photos 29, 32).

Note how the biker is looking straight atFrank, looking as if he is about to

confront him. Newburgh, New York,1955-56. © Robert Frank

How FrankCaptured TheDisparity ofWealth/Racism inAmerica



Charleston, South Carolina, 1955. ©Robert Frank

One of the most poignant themesthat Frank pursued in “TheAmericans” was the disparity ofwealth in America, as well as theblatant racism. One of the subjectmatters that hadn’t been exploredmuch during his period was the rich.He didn’t want to just photographthe poor and the middle class – as hewanted to paint a fuller-picture ofthe American socio-economicclasses.

However the difficulty he found inphotographing “the richer people,the upper class people” was that theywere more difficult to find andphotograph. Whereas the poor andthe middle class would often be outin the open, the rich would be moresecluded, behind closed doors. Tolocate and photograph the rich, hefocused on finding them at moviepremieres and balls where thewealthy were abundant.



Movie Premiere, Hollywood, 1955. ©Robert Frank

When it came to capturing racism,he had a difficult time to convey thisconcept through his photographs.He first started off much moreobjectively, photographing signs ofwater fountains that said “white”and “colored”. “Looking-in” shares:

As they traveled fromNorfolk to Richmond,Virginia, to Charlotte,North Carolina, Frank was“amazed” by thediscrimination he saw.Although he had lived inNew York for several yearsand had traveled to St.

“



Louis and Kansas City,nothing prepared him forthe rigid segregation of thesouth, which he describedas “totally a newexperience”. His contactsheets show that heinitially addressed the issueof segregation byphotographing the signsfor “white” and “colored”water fountains or waitingareas that he frequentlyencountered.

However as Frank went deeper intothe south, he realized more nuancedways to capture racism through hisphotos that weren’t “too clear”. Hedid this in different ways byjuxtaposing the living conditions ofthe wealthy whites and the poverty-ridden African Americans. He alsobecame to admire the strugglingAfrican Americans much more thantheir wealthy counterparts:

But as he ventured deeperinto the south, and hisobjectives becameincreasingly layered andnuanced, he rejected theseeasier, more obvioussolutions as “too clear” and

“



“banal”. He came tounderstand that he wantednot only to comment onthe pervasive presence ofracism but also to revealthe affinity he felt forAfrican Americans and tocelebrate their opennessand lack of suspicioncompared to theCaucasians heencountered.

How Frank Editedand Sequenced“The Americans”



Rodeo, New York City, 1955. © RobertFrank

1. What Franklearned aboutediting/sequencing/bookmaking:

a) How Frank learned how to groupphotos by subject matter



A badass portrait of MichaelWolgensinger

Before Frank shot “The Americans”he learned how to edit and groupphotos by subject matter fromMichael Wolgensigner, a Swisscommercial photographer favoredby the modernist graphic designersof the time. Wolgensigner showedFrank how to make contact prints of2 1/4” negatives and glue them ontocards, grouped by subject matter.

While Frank was still in Zurich, hemade cards with the contact printsof his photographs. Some of hisbasic themes included animals,architecture, children, farming, andpeople. Larger themes heapproached included: reportage,sports, transportation, work, and

http://www.michaelwolgensinger.ch/de/photography/



Zurich itself.

This training from Wolgensigner toedit and group photos by themeshelped build Frank’s discipline– andto work efficiently, pragmatically,and systematically. Although someof his classifications were very basic(children, animals, people), he soontook this to the next level andstarted thinking about it moreconceptually. It helped him what“Looking Inside” says: “[It helpedhim] recognize subjects and themesthat had meaning on him”.

Takeaway point: When you areworking on a project (or thinkingabout starting a project) – tryprinting out some of your images onsmall 4×6 prints and group themaccording to subject matter. You canalso do this on Lightroom and otherimage-editing software, but doing itwith physical prints will help you geta more tactile and fluid experience.By grouping your images to subjectmatter, you will start seeingthe reoccurring themes in your workor certain types of images thatinterest you. Using this as a startingpoint, you can start thinking morecritically and conceptually aboutyour project.



b) What Frank learned aboutsequencing (adding blank pages)

A photograph from Tuggener’s “Fabrik,A Photo Epos of Technology”

Another photographer Frank drewearly inspiration from was a Swissphotographer named JakobTuggener. In one of Tuggener’sbooks titled: “Fabrik, A Photo Eposof Technology” was comprised up of72 photographs that showed thedestructive power of technology andinfluence on humans.

Tuggener’s book was divided into 9parts, each which had a differentaspect of the industries and moderntechnologies. Each photograph was

http://www.steidlville.com/books/585-Fabrik-A-Photo-Epos-of-Technology.html



separated by blank pages to functionas “hyphens” or “breaks” to providethe viewer to give a chance to reflecton what they just saw. Frank endedup doing the same with “TheAmericans” – inserting blank pagesin-between to also give the viewer achance to reflect on the previousimages. Frank says himself, “To seehis photos affirmed the idea that onemust ‘be present’.

Therefore by inserting blank pagesin-between each photograph forcesthe viewer of the book to be more ofan active viewer, trying to makehidden connections and see the flowof the story, rather than mindlesslyflipping through pages. Tuggenerwas also interested in filmmaking, soyou can say that the way that hesequenced his photographs wasfamiliar to that of modernist films,and in admiration of pioneeringSoviet Russian film director SergeiEinstein’s principles of montage.Frank also mentioned to Tuggener’sbook to being “like cinema”.

Even Alexey Brodovitch, theRussian-bornphotographer/designer that Franklooked up to, said that he:“Understood that the act of looking



at a book was temporal experience,akin to watching a film”.

Takeaway point: When you aresequencing a project or a book,realize the power and importance ofblank pages. Don’t simply do it as astylistic tool, but make it intentional.

c) How Frank learned thatsequencing could be a “profoundwork of art”

A photograph from Frank’s “Black whiteand things”. Note how the strong

vertical line could be used as a pause insequencing the book. 34th Street, New

York, 1951. © Robert Frank

The first real example in which



Frank sequenced a book (that hugelyinspired the sequencing in “TheAmericans” was from his book:“Black White and Things“. Thebook was focused on the somber andjoyous moments of life. What“Looking In” says about how Franksequenced the book and built up asense of rhythm:

“Compounding thesequence’s impact, tone,and meaning, frank for thefirst time placed most ofthe photographs oppositeblank pages, allowing analmost stately progressionof image after image tobuild up in the reader’smind. Yet, as readers lookthrough the book, theyquickly discover that theymust move both forwardand backward through it,remembering what theyhave seen before andknowing what will comenext. Thus, form andcontent becomeinterdependent, andmeaning is established asmuch by the movementbetween the photographsas by the photographs

“

http://www.steidlville.com/books/1022-Black-White-and-Things.html



themselves.”

To emphasize, the meaning Frankcreated in his book wasn’t just thephotographs themselves, but themovement and pauses in-betweenthe pages of the book. Frank alsofound it important that he didn’thave to explain everything to theviewer so directly:

“Something must be leftfor the onlooker. He musthave something to see. It isnot all said for him”.

In terms of what Frank wantedpeople to feel when looking at hisphotos? Frank likens it to a poem:

“[I want my viewers to] feelthe way they do when theywant to read a line of apoem twice”.

Takeaway point: When you areputting together a project or book,know that the sequencing of thebook is just as important as theimages themselves. Be verydeliberate on the order you put yourimages together, and try to create acertain rhythm to it- in which

“

“



certain photos next to one anothercan be similar (or dissimilar).Sequencing isn’t somethingscientific, rather it is something thatyou feel. Try to sequence yourimages in which they flow well, andask your peers for their suggestionson sequencing as well.

d) On pairing images together

A spread from Frank’s “Black white andthings” book. Although in “The

Americans” Frank left the opposite pageblank, you can see how he paired theseimages that looked similar. Jesus on the

left side of the page and a hot air balloonon the right? Perhaps Frank was trying to

juxtapose religion and Americanconsumerism?

Although in Frank’s “TheAmericans” he only includedindividual photos per page, helearned the concept of pairingphotos together on separate pagesfrom Russianfilmmaker Sergei Eisenstein:

“Two film pieces of anykind, placed together,

“

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein



inevitably combine into anew concept, a newquality”.

This is another important conceptthat you can take-away whencreating your own photographybook.

Sergei Eisenstein looking at his film

Takeaway point: Try to pair imageson opposite sides of the pages thatmay be similar or different- thatsynthesize into a new concept orhave a new meaning. For example,you can have two images onopposite pages that mirror oneanother or are similar. For example,you have a photograph of a child onthe left side of the page, and of ababy animal on the right side of thepage.

Or have a photograph of somethingthat is predominantly red on the leftside of the page, and another



photograph of something red on theright side of the page. You can alsodo this with polar opposites. Forexample, if you have a photographof a rich man on the left side of apage and a photograph of manure onthe right side of the page, it willsuggest to the viewer your feelings ofthe rich.

Another example perhaps would behaving a photograph of anSUV/Hummer on the left side of thepage and of dollar bills on the rightside of the page to show how youmay feel how wastefulSUV’s/Hummers may be.

2. How Frankprocessed his filmand made initialedits

When Frank was done shooting“The Americans” – he had themonumental task of developing hisfilm, creating contact sheets, makinginitial edits, and organizing them.“Looking In” writes:

“Throughout the summerand fall of 1956, Frankfinished developing the

“



more than 767 rolls of filmhe had shot for the project,made contact sheets ofthem, reviewed more than2,700 frames, and markedthose images he thoughtwere of interest. He thenembarked on themonumental task ofmaking approximately1,000 work prints, which heannotated, often with a redgrease pencil, with thecorresponding number ofthe roll of film.”

Takeaway point: When makinginitial edits of a project you areworking on, mark anything of whichis interest to you. Then you cancontinue on a more precise editafterwards.

3. Frank editing hiswork



Frank editing his work

When Frank first started developinghis film (at his friend’s darkroom) hewas ruthless in editing. “Looking In”mentions:

“[Frank] edited them onthe spot, unsentimentallycutting off and throwingaway those frames hefound of no interest. Witha quick eye and surejudgment, he discoveredthat ‘even when thephotographs are bad,looking at them isinstructive.'”

Not only was Frank able to quicklydiscard his worst images, but he alsoused them as a tool to better learnwhat his good images were. RobertFrank once said this about editing:“What you reject… is just asimportant“. “Looking In” also saidthis about Frank’s editing:

“Trying to make sense ofthis vast accumulation,Frank knew that just as hephotographed ‘by processof elimination,’ so too byediting the work prints he

“

“



could “come into the core”of what he wanted toexpress.”

Takeaway point: Be ruthless when itcomes to your own editing. Whileyou don’t necessarily need to cut upthe negatives of your bad photos ordelete them, be critical with yourself.Would you want that image to makeit into a book? Would you want tosee it in an exhibition printed large?Also don’t be frustrated with yourrejected images- but learn fromthem.

4. Initiallycategorizing hisimages

Frank also categorized his imagesaccordingly:

“[Frank] also noted thosesubjects that he hadrepeatedly explored, suchas cars, jukeboxes, andlunch counters, and thosethat he had onlytangentially touched upon,especially religion, themedia, the flag, and thelook of the new suburban

“



landscape.”

By noting the general categories ofsubjects that he shot, he was able toget a better understanding of whatthemes he found interesting aboutAmerica- as well as other themes hewished to explore more. Thisincluded religion, the media, theflag, and the suburban landscape.After his first round of developingand looking at his negatives, hewould then go back and make aconscious effort to re-shoot thosecertain themes. Frank also started torealize that the type of images he wastaking started changing. “LookingIn” writes:

“[Frank] also recognizedthat in the last few monthsnot only had his style andapproach changed, so toohad his intention. Nolonger striving for poeticeffect or even beautifulphotographs he nowopenly sought to expresshis opinions about what hesaw– his anger at the abuseof power, his suspicion ofwealth and its privileges,his support for those lessfortunate, and most of all,

“



his fears about the kind ofculture he saw emerging inthe country.”

This goes back to the idea that Frankwasn’t shooting “The Americans” asa transparent documentary project,but rather a project that waspersonal to him — and full ofmeaning, anger, and suspicion. Thisis what Frank said when asked abouthis thoughts:

“America is an interestingcountry, but there is a lotthat I do not like and that Iwould never accept. I amalso trying to show thisthrough my photos”.

Therefore his images weren’t justabout creating aesthetically pleasingimages. Rather, he wanted to bringattention to injustices he sawthrough his photos.

Takeaway point: When you areworking on a project, by categorizingyour images and tracking them – youcan see how your own intention,style, and approach can change andevolve. When you see your workevolving into something else than

“



you originally intended, don’t try toforce it. Go with the flow and letyour work take a life of its own.

5. Organizing hisprints

When Frank made his nearly 1,000work prints, he did the following toorganize his prints. “Looking In”shares:

“Out of this chaos [Frank]began to construct someorder. He spread the workprints out on tables and thefloor of his apartment andthumbtacked, even stapledthem to its walls.

By tacking and stapling the imageson his apartment, he would live withthe photographs – and get a bettersense of what he felt were thestrongest images, and how he shouldsequence them. “Looking In”elaborates on the themes that Frankidentified:

“Following the training hehad received in Zurichfrom MichaelWolgensigner, he grouped

“

“



them at first by themes:cars, race, religion, politics,and the media were themajor components, but healso arranged them bydepictions of the wayAmericans live, work, eat,and play, as well as by moreminor subjects that hadcaught his attention —such as cemeteries,jukeboxes, and lunchcounters. And he devotedone group to images of hisfamily.”

Frank would then constantly movearound and re-pin his photos indifferent parts of his walls andhouses:

“As the boundariesbetween the groups wereporous and the divisionsfluid, he frequently movedprints around, oftenripping them off the wallsonly to thumbtack themnext to a new neighbor orset them aside entirely in abox. Sometimes he put redcircular marks on thosephotographs he consideredstrongest; occasionally he

“



marked them to indicatehow they should becropped.”

Also through this process, Frankdecided which photos and themeshe should eliminate:

“In the process, [Frank]entirely eliminated somesubjects he had thought hemight explore, such as thesuburban landscape peopletrapped by the detritus ofconsumer culture, and anyliteral allusion to theimmigrant experience. Helater estimated that hespent 3 to 4 months doingthis evaluation andediting– it was, he told agroup of students, “‘thebiggest job on that book.'”

Therefore you could see that inorder to create “The Americans” –Frank took editing very seriously.Not only did he edit by intuition,but he also did it analytically byexploring certain themes. Anotherimportant note to make is how hedecided to get rid of some themes inthe book, such as the suburban

“



landscape, consumer culture, andthe immigrant experience. Bycutting out these other themes, hewas able to focus on the centralthemes in his book such as race,religion, and the overwhelmingsense of alienation.

Takeaway point: When you areediting your own work, try the sametechnique. Although we have waysto do it digitally (Lightroom,Aperture, etc) there is great merit indoing it via the analogue approach.Print our small 4×6’s and spreadthem out on the ground, tack themto your walls, and move themaround. There is something amazingabout this tactile approach which ishard to describe – which can helpyou get a better final edit/sequenceof your work.

6. Creating thestructure of “TheAmericans”

Upon editing his work, Frank thenfocused on the sequence and thestructure of the book:

“Next, he worked on thesequence itself. Laying outsome of the work prints on

“



the floor or tables andpinning others to the walls,he slowly devised astructure. Like his own“Black white and things”,Evans’ “Americanphotographs”, andTuggener’s “Fabrik”, hisbook would be divided intofour chapters, eachseparated by blank pages,most opening with aphotograph of a flag.

One thing that Frank also did whichwas radical at the time was to crophis images. Sometimes radically, andat other times less radically:

By spring 1957, Frank hadcut down his one thousandwork prints toapproximately onehundred and made newprints, which he morecarefully considered thecropping. Sometimes heused the full negative, as inTrolley- New Orleans, butmore often he presentedonly a portion of it.”

“Looking In” shares some of the

“



figures Frank eliminated through hiscropping:

“[Frank] eliminated adistracting figure on the farright in City Fathers –Hoboken, New Jersey;emphasized the cross likeforms behind theconventioneer, in PoliticalRally – Chicago, and theevangelist in Jehovah’sWitness- Los Angeles,tightened the relationshipbetween the campaignposters and the bumperpool table in Luncheonette– Butte, Montana; andfocused more closely onthe lonely young woman inElevator – Miami Beachand on the schemingpoliticians in Conventionhall – Chicago.

“



A crop of his photograph of the politicalrally. You can see how he cropped it on

the contact sheet with the red greasepencil.

Initial shot of City Fathers – Hoboken,New Jersey. Pre-crop



City Fathers – Hoboken, New Jerseyafter the crop. Note how the figure in the

far right has been cropped out.

Frank’s famous “Elevator girl” shot. Pre-crop

Frank’s “Elevator girl” shot after thecrop. Note how it is cropped tighter toemphasize the expression on the girl’s

face



Frank’s famous “Rodeo” shot- precrop.Note the blue pencil marks on the sides

where Frank planned on the crop.

Frank’s “Rodeo” shot after the crop.Note how his crop got rid of the

distracting figures on the left and rightside of the frame.



Some of Frank’s crops were radical:

“He even extracted twovertical prints, Hotel Lobby– Miami and MoviePremiere – Hollywoodfrom horizontal negatives.”

One of his famous photos from a ball,originally a horizontal photograph.

Cropped into a vertical photograph.

Touching upon sequencing again inthe book and creating a maquette (adummy book):

“Working quickly andintuitively, with nopreconceived ideas aboutthe subject of each chapter,he sequenced the book,once again laying thephotographs out on tablesand the floor and pinningthem to the walls. As heworked, he establishedonly one rule: if two

“

“



selected photographs camefrom the same contactsheet, one would followthe other in the sequence.And finally he made amaquette, 8 3/8 by 9 1/2inches, with photostats ofninety two of the selectedimages.”

Takeaway point: Althoughpersonally I am not a huge fan ofcropping, you can see that Frankcropped many of his photos – someof them quite radically (turninghorizontal shots into vertical shots).Therefore if you want to make aphotograph more powerful, havemore focus onto a single subject, andget rid of distractions, crop yourshots.

7. The initialmaquette (dummybook) of “TheAmericans”

The maquette (initial dummy book)of “The Americans” showed manythings about what Frank tried toexpress through the sequencing.“Looking In” shares:

“



“The maquette indicatesthat, as he had begun to doin ‘Black White andThings [one of his previousbooks],’ in his book onamerica, meaning would begarnered through adeliberate progression ofimages that did not rely onobvious side by sidecomparisons but insteadengaged readers in a muchmore active manner, askingthem to recall what theyhad seen on previous pagesand reflect on theirrelationship to what theycurrently saw.

Many other books published duringFrank’s time often showed twophotos side-by-side on oppositesides of the page– sometimes withsimilar subject matter and sometimestotally opposite. Rather, Frankdeliberately had only onephotograph per two-page spread, toforce the viewer to recall the imagesthey saw before and think about themeaning. “Looking In” continues:

“While demanding more ofhis readers and enticingthem to join him in a

“

“



voyage of discovery, Frankalso more fully engagedthem intellectually,emotionally and evenviscerally.”

To force the reader to makeconnections between the breaks orpauses in a book challenged them tobe much more active in digestingand understanding the book. Ratherthan being passive readers, theywould be active participants.

Takeaway point: Depending onwhat you want your project to do forthe reader, consider either pairingsimilar images (or different images)side-by-side on the same spread. Orinsert breaks in-between to help thereader become a much more activeparticipant in reading yourproject/book.

8. The flow ofimages

When Frank sequenced the book, hedidn’t want to have a book of stand-alone images. He didn’t see any ofhis photos as individual images, butpart of a larger collection. Whenasked about how he sequenced thebook, Frank said in an interview:

“



“I tried to not just have onepicture thrown in alone,isolated as a picture. That’swhat I tried to do. I think itoften sort of succeeds.”

Not only did he want to createmeaning through associations andrelationships, but he also wanted tocreate a movement through hisphotos. Frank continues:

“I wanted to create somekind of rhythm… I’m notsure now whether I wantedto have first pictures thatdidn’t move and then movemovement in the pictureslater on in the next few.”

During his lifetime Frank was veryfascinated with theater and film (hepursued it actively after completing“The Americans”). Very much so hetried to sequence the book like amoving picture – having the staticphotos move with energy, vigor, andlife.

Takeaway point: Don’t think of yourphotography project or book as abook of single images, but rather acollective full of images that flow

“

“



well and have meaning stacked onone another.

The CriticalResponse ofFrank’s “TheAmericans”

Political Rally, Chicago, 1956. © RobertFrank

Although Frank’s “The Americans”is now revered as one of the mostimportant photo-books ever made inthe history of photography, it wasvery controversial when it first cameout – and Frank encounteredconsiderable criticism.



For example critics described thebook to be “a slashing and bitterattack on some U.S. institutions,” “awart-covered picture of America,”and a “disturbing” portrayal of “theUgly American.”

Frank was also personally accused ofbeing a “joyless man who hates thecountry of his adoption” and “a liarperversely basking in the kind ofworld and the kind of misery he isperpetually seeking and persistentlycreating.”

Some more criticisms that hereceived was that he was a “pooressayist with no convincingstoryteller at all” and that his ulteriorintent was to “…let his pictures beused to spread hatred amongnations.”

More criticism that Frank receivedthat the photographs themselves had“…no sociological comment. No realreportial function… being merelyneurotic, and to some degreedishonest”.

Frank’s title of “The Americans”also received considerable attacks,with his detractors saying that it was“Utterly misleading! A degradation



of a nation!” It is important to notethat influential works generally facelots of opposition and criticism.

Takeaway point: Even the bestphotography books and projects inhistory have received considerablecriticism. Know that when youcreate a book, project, or a body ofwork – don’t expect it to be praisedby everyone (no matter how great itis). If anything, take criticism as asign that your work is evoking areaction (which may in-fact be agood thing).

On Originality(when applying forthe Guggenheim)

Elevator, Miami Beach, 1955. © RobertFrank

One of the worst pieces of advice Ioften hear photographers tellingothers is: “Don’t work on thatproject, it has already been done



before”. When it comes to RobertFrank’s “The Americans”,photographers see it as a veryoriginal and groundbreaking piece ofwork. However in reality, whenFrank decided to embark on hisproject, America had already beenphotographed quite extensively byrenowned photographers such asWalker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Evans creating his pivotalproject on America was actually theone who encouraged the youngFrank to apply for a Guggenheim toembark on his project. “Looking In”writes:

“A few months before“The Family of Man”exhibition opened, Evansas a confidential advisor tothe John SimonGuggenheim MemorialFoundation encouragedFrank to apply for afellowship. Frank’sintended project– tophotograph throughoutthe United States– wasneither unexpected nornovel.”

Also from the text, about the otherfamous photographers who

“



embarked on photographingAmerica:

“Many American andEuropean photographerbefore him — fromCartier-Bresson to Frank’sfriend Elliott Erwitt, toname only two of the mostrecent– had photographedtheir travels throughoutthe United States.”

Takeaway point: When you areworking on a project and people tellyou not to work on the projectbecause “it has been done before” —take their advice with a pinch of salt.Of course we want to create originalpieces of work and not copyphotographers who have alreadydone strong bodies of work on acertain subject or topic.

However what we can take awayfrom Frank’s example is that he stillembarked on “The Americans” eventhough the topic had been coveredthoroughly. If you want to embarkon your own project that has alreadybeen “done before” — add your ownstyle, originality, and flair to it. Asphotography has been around forover a century now, most subject

“



matters have been thoroughlycovered by photographers. There arevery few subjects, which are“original”. But know that becauseyou are the one taking the photos,they will always be original in thatregard.

Frank’sGuggenheimFellowshipApplication

Covered Car, Long Beach, California,1956. © Robert Frank

When Frank applied to photographThe Americans he needed financialsupport to go on his 2-year longjourney throughout America. Tofinance his trip, his mentor WalkerEvans encouraged Frank to apply forthe Guggenheim fellowship. Withconsiderable amount of help fromEvans (on writing the proposal), hesubmitted his proposal, whichawarded him $3,600 to loop around



America from 1955-1956. Theproposal of the grant in-full is shownbelow:

Part 1: Frank’s briefsummary of theproposal

To photograph freelythroughout the UnitedStates, using the miniaturecamera exclusively. Themaking of a broad,voluminous picture recordof things American, pastand present. This project isessentially the visual studyof a civilization and willinclude caption notes; butit is only partlydocumentary in nature:one of its aims is moreartistic than the worddocumentary implies.

Part 2: The fullstatement of intent

I am applying for aFellowship with a verysimple intention: I wish tocontinue, develop and

“

“



widen the kind of work Ialready do, and have beendoing for some ten years,and apply it to theAmerican nation ingeneral. I am submittingwork that will be seen to bedocumentation — mostbroadly speaking. Work ofthis kind is, I believe, to befound carrying its ownvisual impact withoutmuch work explanation.The project I have in mindis one that will shape itselfas it proceeds, and isessentially elastic.

The material is there: thepractice will be in thephotographer’s hand, thevision in his mind. Onesays this with someembarrassment but onecannot do less than claimvision if one is to ask forconsideration. “Thephotographing ofAmerica” is a large order — read at all literally, thephrase would be anabsurdity. What I have inmind, then, is observationand record of what one



naturalized American findsto see in the United Statesthat signifies the kind ofcivilization born here andspreading elsewhere.

Incidentally, it is fair toassume that when anobservant American travelsabroad his eye will seefreshly; and that thereverse may be true when aEuropean eye looks at theUnited States. I speak ofthe things that are there,anywhere and everywhere — easily found, not easilyselected and interpreted. Asmall catalog comes to themind’s eye: a town at night,a parking lot, asupermarket, a highway,the man who owns threecars and the man who ownsnone, the farmer and hischildren, a new house anda warped clapboard house,the dictation of taste, thedream of grandeur,advertising, neon lights,the faces of the leaders andthe faces of the followers,gas tanks and post officesand backyards.



The uses of my projectwould be sociological,historical and aesthetic. Mytotal production will bevoluminous, as is usuallythe case when thephotographer works withminiature film. I intend toclassify and annotate mywork on the spot, as Iproceed. Ultimately the fileI shall make should bedeposited in a collectionsuch as the one in theLibrary of Congress. Amore immediate use I havein mind is both book andmagazine publication.

Quotes by Frank on“The Americans”

© Robert Frank

What I learned from “Looking In” isthat although photographers haveanalyzed Frank’s “The Americans”



to death, teachers, and academics-Frank himself said very little abouthis project. Some quotes that didn’tnecessarily fit into the rest of thearticle I have compiled here:

1. On why he usedblack and white for“The Americans”

“Black and white is thevision of Hope and despair.That is what I want in myphotographs.”

2. What he wantedto show through hisphotographs:

“Somber people and blackevents quiet things andpeaceful places and thethings people have come incontact with this, i try toshow in my photographs”

3. On why hephotographs:

“Above all, I know that alife for a photographer

“

“

“



cannot be a matter ofindifference.”

Getting “TheAmericans”published

Ranch Market, Hollywood, 1955-56. ©Robert Frank

Many of us know how difficult atask it is to get our work published ina book. Even during Frank’s time, itwas quite difficult. In an interviewwith Robert Delpire (the originalpublisher of “The Americans”) byMichel Frizot in Feb 2008, wediscover how Frank first approachedDelpire to get his work published ina book:

Michel Frizot: How did thepublication of LesAmericains come about?

Robert Delpire: One lateday in summer 1954, I think,

“



Frank was in Paris and hetold me, “I want to do a bigproject on America, and I’dlike to apply for aGuggenheim grant. Youwould need to sign a paperfor me, agreeing to publisha book with myphotographs. I think thatwould allow me to get thegrant. I signed the paper, hegot the grant.

He came back about threeyears later and showed methe photographs. He hadhis own idea for the book,but he did not have amock-up prepared. Hewanted a singlephotograph per doublepage. He said, “I don’t likecombining photos.” Iimmediately subscribed tothat point of view, and wedid the mock-up in oneafternoon, at my place,lining up the photographson the floor.

There are somephotographers who do notknow how to choose theirphotos, but he did. And



there was no problem interms of the selection. Asfor the sequence, we did itjust like that, intuitively.The number ofphotographs was notpredetermined, it justhappened, with uschoosing one by one. Ahundred and seventy-fourpages, that’s not even amultiple of eight [referringto the minimum number ofpages in a folded presssignature].

Getting JackKerouac to writethe introduction



US 285, New Mexico, 1955. © RobertFrank

For the introduction of his book,Frank was lucky enough to get therenowned Jack Kerouac (author of“On the Road”) to write it for him.How did Frank do it? To start off,when Frank first heard of the NewYork Times review of “On theRoad”, he met Jack Kerouac at aparty where he asked him to writethe introduction. Joyce Johnson,who was Kerouac’s girlfriend at thetime, shared her recollection of theevent:

Robert Frank walked inwith a couple of boxes of

“



his work. For several yearshe’d been going around thecountry taking photos for abook he planned to callThe Americans. He washoping to convince Jack towrite an introduction. Heasked me if I’d like to lookat the pictures. The firstone I saw was of a roadsomewhere out west–blacktop gleaming underheadlights with a whitestripe down the middlethat went on and toward anoutlying darkness. Jack’sroad! I thoughtimmediately.”

From that moment Jack Kerouacagreed and wrote one of the finestand jazzy introductions that has everbeen written for a book. You canread Kerouac’s fullintroduction here.

Contact sheets ofinterest

1. The progression ofhow he got hisfamous cover photofor “The Americans”

http://www.americansuburbx.com/pdfs/r/robert-frank-the-americans-kerouac-essay



This contact sheet is quiteinteresting. Frank took a total of 5photos of the scene. He first saw theAmerican flag in front of a building,and saw figures peering out.However the windows obscured thepeople.

Upon shooting some other frames,he found another scene of twowomen looking out into the politicalrally, and just made one exposure-which became the famous coverphoto of “The Americans”.

Takeaway point: If you see aninteresting scene, keep your eye onthe lookout. At first the scene maynot work, but you might find similarscenes or the scene evolving overtime. Always be ready.



2. Political rally

During a political rally, Frank saw aman campaigning- yelling andproclaiming himself vigorously, withhis arms outstretched. You see hetook several frames of him, and thenwas able to capture “the decisivemoment” in which he has his handsfully-extended.

Takeaway point: Don’t quitshooting until you captured “thedecisive moment”



The progression of shots Frank gotbefore he got “the decisive moment” of

the campaigning man’s armsoutstretched

“The decisive moment” which was usedas the final image for “The Americans”



3. Progression of his“elevator girl” shot

Frank’s famous image of the“elevator girl” who looks quitebored, pressing the doors open forthe people to enter/exit wasn’t just asingle shot. You can see how he shot15 exposures of the same scene, evenwith a few shots of the girl posing forhim at the end.

Takeaway point: if you see aninteresting scene which you thinkhas potential, don’t just snap a singleexposure and move on. Wait, andwork the scene.

The progression of Frank’s famous“elevator girl” shot



By the end, the elevator girl wasobviously aware of Frank’s presence.

Some shots of her posing for him.

The famous “elevator girl” shot thatmade it into the book

4. St. Francis statue

In one of his most poignant photosin “The Americans”, Frankphotographed a statue of St. Francis.Fascinating to note that his originalpick of the scene was different fromwhat was the final image.

Takeaway point: Your first initialgut instinct for choosing a photomay change over time. Also if yousee an interesting scene, take it fromdifferent angles and different



exposures (especially if it is a statueor something that doesn’t move).

Note how Frank photographed thestatue from all different angles, and even

took photos of the same perspective,changing his exposure.

The shot Frank first considered

The shot Frank considered, whichbecame the final image in the book.



The final image. Note how Frank burnedin the background to bring back much

more details. St Francis, gas station andCity Hall, LA 1955

Conclusion

Political Rally, Chicago, 1956. © RobertFrank

Robert Frank’s “The Americans”was one of the most influential



photography books created of alltime. However remember that it isinteresting to note that at the time itwasn’t an original project at all.Walker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson already covered America,but Frank went ahead, followed hisown gut, and created a project thatbroke all sort of standards. Instead ofbeing straightforward“documentary”, Frank expressed hisown alienated feelings of America.Dark, gloomy, and unjust.

In going against the prevailingtransparent-styled photography ofthe time, he had a ton of critics of hiswork that ostracized him from everyangle. However his work has nowinspired countless photographersand has left its marks for generationsto come. Although I doubt thatFrank would call himself a “streetphotographer” — his way ofworking was very similar. Hetraveled across the country, tookmost of his photos candidly andworked with speed, elegance, and asense of fluidity.

As street photographers we canlearn so much from Frank — interms of his imagery, how he puttogether his book, and also how he



went against conventions. Thisarticle on Frank isn’t comprehensiveand I’m sure there are many holesthat I failed to fill. However I stillhope that you took away somethingmeaningful from this article.

Although it took me several monthsto put this post together (in terms ofthe research, the writing, formatting,and getting the images) and I’m surethere are some mistakes, spellingerrors, or grammatical errors I havemade. Please make some suggestionsin the comments below.

Further reading

1. “The Americans”by Robert Frank

Of course if you want to learn moreabout “The Americans” it isimperative that you pick up apaperbound copy of your own.





2. “Looking In:Robert Frank’s TheAmericans” by Steidl

This behemoth of a book is what Iused to conduct the research for thisarticle. It is much more thoroughthan my post, has examples of mocklayouts of the book that Frankcreated, his work prints, as well ashis contact sheets. This is a bookthat you must have in your library ifyou are serious about learning moreabout photography.

3. “By the Glow ofthe Jukebox: TheAmericans List” byJason Eskenazi



http://jasoneskenazi.com/americans.html



Jason Eskenazi is a talentedphotographer who embarked on a10-year odyssey through the oldsoviet union and published his book:“Wonderland: A Fairytale of theSoviet Monolith” (see the interviewwith Charlie Kirk on my blog here).

For about 10 months in the past, hewas also a guard at the METMuseum in New York. Believe it ornot, he was the guard for the“Looking In“ exhibition for RobertFrank’s “The Americans”. He thenasked many renownedphotographers what was their

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjasoneskenazi.com%2Fwonderland.html&ei=6I_rUICpMYnbkgWS8YHgAg&usg=AFQjCNE7XlzXxPZTMmIGySE7086NPEhp8Q&sig2=3i33-35wUsS7Pz67KHTqVA&bvm=bv.1357316858,d.dGI

http://jasoneskenazi.com/americans.html

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CEkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Ferickimphotography.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F10%2Finterview-with-jason-eskanazi-on-wonderland-a-fairytale-of-the-soviet-monolith-a-10-year-odyssey-around-the-former-soviet-union%2F&ei=6I_rUICpMYnbkgWS8YHgAg&usg=AFQjCNEuVKrSPTIH7c9kMdFLJpNuGv69iw&sig2=KAWGbJxxaUn4DRQFrHtvWg&bvm=bv.1357316858,d.dGI



favorite image and why. He thencompiled 276 photographers answersin the unique book. Definitely amust-have accompaniment for “TheAmericans”.

You can see a preview of the bookhere. Order a copy online here.

How has Robert Frank’s workinfluenced you? Share your thoughtsabout “The Americans” below – andalso please let me know of any typos,grammatical mistakes, or correctionsin the comments below!

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Robert Frank’s “The Americans”_ Timeless Lessons Street Photographers Can Learn.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Robert Frank’s “The Americans”_ Timeless Lessons Street Photographers Can Learn.pdf