A Little Yin, A Little Yang
I love candy. Yep, love it like crazy. And sometimes, although we also crave the tools discussed here, (we all need them, to do what we love) sometimes the gear check is like candy. Love the stuff.
That is why I always need to balance the indulgence of those things with the point to it all: the photographs.
This month, one of the classic books of photographs will be republished by Steidl.
It’s the 50th anniversary of the first printing of The Americans by Swiss photographer, Robert Frank
Sitting down this evening to take a gear break, I pulled an old copy of this from the shelf.
When a book has a forward by an American icon like Jack Kerouac, it makes you read it. When the photographs are of an America emerging from 2 wars, it make you look at them. And the brilliance of Robert Frank telling the visual tale of the US, in this book first published in France in 1958, has a sense of the Beat generations‘ views and of a country segregated, separated and steeped in its cultural differences brought together in a cross country, black and white portrait that still holds up today.
Sure, it’s a bit dated if you consider the coasts. The deep middle maybe less. The clothing and locales have changed. The modern versions of the inhabitants depicted here can be easily imagined.
The stunning photography is still remarkable. Yes, the print quality even in this edition from 1986, reveals the rich tonal scale from a certain era in our photographic world: the 50’s. and the style may seem familiar. The grain, the intimacy, the overall point of view. It was considered breakthrough at the time. Now it’s a standard in the imagery all around you.
One of my favorite images is this:
Public Rally © Robert frank
From Jack Kerouac’s introduction:
“What a poem this is, what poems can be written about this book of pictures some day by some young new writer high by candlelight bending over them describing every gray mysterious detail, the gray film that caught the actual pink juice of human kind. Whether ’tis the milk of human kindness, Shakespeare meant, makes no difference when you look at these pictures. better than a show.”
Can’t wait to see the new edition. Seems Robert frank has overseen every new edition and usually changes something in the versions.
There will be a traveling show next year and we’ll keep you updated.
Hmmm…seems like a good candidate for the weekly giveaway. What do you think?
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May 13th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Years ago, my good friend Kathie and I saw the Smithsonian exhibit of \”The Americans\” and was just blown away! His work is one of the reasons I went into this field and to this day is one of the best photography books of the 20th Century. He captured a unique time in America in a style imitated to this day.
When I started at K&M almost 2 years ago, I was told that the owners were very good friends, and a few days later, he came into the store with Itzek,
the senior \”K\” of K&M. I was momentarily stunned and at a loss for words but he looked at me as to say \”what are ya, mute or something?\”. Suddenly, he wasn\’t the mysterious J.D. Salinger of photography but a kind yet grumpy old man. I relaxed and we spoke for a while about his work but he was
more concerned about where you can still get a good bagel in New York City.
(Our conclusion was that Ess-A Bagel & H&H are the last bastions of decent bagelry in Metropolis…).
I seen and spoken to him a few times in the last year or so and found him to be a complex soul, and a wonderful article in May\’s Vanity Fair (the one before
Miley…..) only confirmed to me the many facets of the man. I\’m just so glad that I was able to speak to him and tell him that how groundbreaking and influential \”The Americans \” was to me and so many others. And that he sorta
said \”Thank You\”. (I think…)