Frank Perspective ; a Landmark Photography Book Turns 50 with an Exhibition Devoted to Prescient Views
The Washington Times › January 18, 2009
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Summary
In the mid-1950s, photographer Robert Frank captured an unsentimental picture of America that still resonates today. He spent two years crisscrossing the country to chronicle ordinary people and discovered a population separated by racism, social isolation, political manipulation and rampant consumerism - divisions still ingrained in the culture.
Mr. Frank assembled his black-and-white photos into a portfolio that was published by Grove Press in 1959 and simply called "The Americans." The book only sold about 1,100 copies and suffered harsh reviews. Its images of a segregated streetcar, desolate cemeteries and rundown bars were seen as a punch to the smiling face of the happy, prosperous nation.See the full content of this document
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Frank Perspective ; a Landmark Photography Book Turns 50 with an Exhibition Devoted to Prescient Views
That all changed when younger photographers rediscovered the book in the 1960s and began copying Mr. Frank's raw, off-kilter style. His influence came to shape both art and commercial photography (Mr. Frank's best-known work may be the album cover of t...
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