The name Robert Frank has become a very important one in the world of photography. He is one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century and is well known for his documentation of American Life.
He became a photographer in he 1940's, starting out doing fashion photography for Harpers Bazzaar Magazine in Paris. After becoming bored with it and abandoning fashion photography, he took a series of pictures in the late 1950's that would be published as The Americans; a book that would be called one of the most influential books in photography.
The Americans is known for its 'American-ness", showing humour, sadness and everything about America that is American. A tall thin cowboy rolling butt outside Madison Square Garden, a long shot of a night road arrowing into the distance, a tattooed guy sleeping on the grass, and a man resting under American Flag canopy in an old busted car seat. Its ironic and meaningful imagery is full of concepts that come to mind when thinking or envisioning American life.
Another one of his famous (and my favourite) books is Come Again, showing a series of images with no words whatsoever. The images are of buildings, cars and window, taken at different angles and then stuck together to create one image. The way he has presented the images in an almost amateur style, with no words leaves the viewer to guess or to envision their own concepts and ideas on why the image was taken, and presented in such a way in the first place.
Robert Frank's work has really inspired for alot of work, and his style is very influential. In fact The Americans was a huge influence on some of my most recent uni work. The lighting, tone and mood of his images really gave me ideas on how to create my own. Plus his book Come Again was another piece of inspiration that gave me ideas on my own concept.
References -
- http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/frankinfo.shtm
- Robert Frank - Come Again
- Robert Frank - The Americans
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