LOOKING IN: ROBERT FRANK'S THE AMERICANS [Paperback]

Sarah Greenough (Author), Anne Tucker (Collaborator), Stuart Alexander (Collaborator), Martin Gasser (Collaborator), Jeff Rosenheim (Collaborator), Michel Frizot (Collaborator), Luc Sante (Collaborator), Philip Brookman (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2009

First published in France in 1958, then in the United States in 1959, Robert Frank's The Americans changed the course of twentieth-century photography. In 83 photographs, Frank looked beneath the surface of American life to reveal a people plagued by racism, ill-served by their politicians and rendered numb by a rapidly expanding culture of consumption. Yet he also found novel areas of beauty in simple, overlooked corners of American life. And it was not just his subject matter--cars, jukeboxes and even the road itself--that redefined the icons of America; it was also his seemingly intuitive, immediate, off-kilter style, as well as his method of brilliantly linking his photographs together thematically, conceptually, formally and linguistically, that made The Americans so innovative. More of an ode or a poem than a literal document, the book is as powerful and provocative today as it was 50 years ago. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans" celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of this prescient book. Drawing on newly examined archival sources, it provides a fascinating in-depth examination of the making of the photographs and the book's construction, using vintage contact sheets, work prints and letters that literally chart Frank's journey around the country on a Guggenheim grant in 1955-1956. Curator and editor Sarah Greenough and her colleagues also explore the roots of The Americans in Frank's earlier books, which are abundantly illustrated here, and in books by photographers Walker Evans, Bill Brandt and others. The 83 original photographs from The Americans are presented in sequence in as near vintage prints as possible. The catalogue concludes with an examination of Frank's later reinterpretations and deconstructions of The Americans, bringing full circle the history of this resounding entry in the annals of photography. This richly illustrated paperback edition of Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans" contains several engaging essays by curator Sarah Greenough that explore the roots of this seminal book, Frank's travels on a Guggenheim fellowship, the sequencing of The Americans and the book's impact on his later career. In addition, essays by Anne Wilkes Tucker, Stuart Alexander, Martin Gasser, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Michel Frizot and Luc Sante offer focused analyses of Frank's relationship with Louis Faurer, Edward Steichen, Gotthard Schuh, Walker Evans, Robert Delpire and Jack Kerouac, while Philip Brookman writes about his work with Frank on several exhibitions in the last 30 years. This paperback edition also reproduces many of Frank's earlier photographic sequences, as well as all of the photographs in The Americans and selected later works.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Steidl (February 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3865217486
• ISBN-13: 978-3865217486
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #922,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A full and frank appraisal of the Americans, February 24, 2009

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: LOOKING IN: ROBERT FRANK'S THE AMERICANS, EXPANDED EDITION (Hardcover)

I was lucky enough to be given a copy of The Americans as a birthday present in 1960 and its always been one of my favorite photo books. Now, with this huge book, the original becomes even more fascinating and intriguing.

To be able to see Robert Frank's application to the Guggenheim, letters to Walker Evans and Jack Kerouac, a map and itinerary for the photo journey across America and his original working sequence of prints for the book puts the eighty-three photos in perspective. Sarah Greenhough's four essays (she is one of the seven contributors) puts him in the context of the Cold War and consumer culture times and I thought her essay about the opposition to The Americans particularly interesting (the Family of Man exhibition had a lot to answer for, though Frank had seven photos in it).

She also writes about various editions and the different printing techniques that were used. This turns out to be rather important because the viewer's perception of the photos can vary according to what copy they see. The original French and Grove Press editions were printed gravure and many of the photos were tightly cropped so that they were perceived as hard-edge images of America. Later editions, from Aperture (two) Pantheon, Scalo and Steidl sometimes used larger photos with less severe cropping. All of this is revealed in the back of the book with thumbnails of the original photos with repeats to show how the various editions presented their versions. The reality is that black and white prints cannot adequately be printed in one black pass through a press, to do it properly they have to be duotones or tritones. The Americans in this book look stunning as they are printed as tritones (probably from the same plates that Steidl used for a re-issue of The Americans in 2008).

The cherry on the cake for me with this book are the eighty-three pages of contact prints (done as duotones) with Frank's selection pulled out in the red grease crayon he used. How extraordinary to see alternate versions of photos that I've looked at over and over in the original book and to see more than 2500 negatives that he took in his travels.

Looking In is a remarkable (and beautifully produced) book that really does cover everything you'll need to know about a publishing event more than five decades ago.

BTW there is a paperback edition that does NOT include the contact prints, sequence and subsequent editions cropping pages or the correspondence and archive material. It is 144 pages fewer than this expanded edition.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important supplement, September 14, 2009

By 

David J. Schneider (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: LOOKING IN: ROBERT FRANK'S THE AMERICANS (Paperback)

By consensus Frank's The Americans is perhaps the most important photo book of the last half century even though those who don't have a clear sense of what was available before and after may not fully understand why. Indeed, his style (in its most generic sense) has become so mainstream or at least popular that his book seems quite tame, almost banal. Looking In (and the exhibit it references) is essential for understanding the context and influence of the Frank book. In the first instance it makes clear why so many of the photos in the Frank book are important and ultimately unsettling. There are lucid discussions of his choices in making, developing, and presenting the photos. It also provides a nice set of essays tracing Frank's career and the various journeys he took while making the photos. Essays on the folks who influenced him (especially Walker Evans) are quite illuminating. The volume also contains many of the pictures he took before The Americans, a bonus, as well as all those in The Americans. Thus for those who do not own the original book,this volume contains the original at relatively little extra cost (maybe $10) (but in a much larger and heavier format). The hardcover edition contains some extra material, mostly as I recall contact prints which allow comparisons of versions chosen for the book with similar ones not. For my purposes the paperback version contains the essential material and is much cheaper. The actual exhibit (which I saw in San Francisco and is now in NYC) did a nice job of explaining the sequencing of the photos (Frank was obsessed with this) and providing some insights into why certain photos are important. The exhibit notes were more focused that those in Looking In and I found the exhibit notes more helpful. However, bottom line is that this is essential reading (and looking) for anyone with more than a passing interest in modern photography, especially those who cannot see the exhibit.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frank Revealed, March 27, 2009

By 

James F. Pierce MD "photo buff" (Honolulu, Hawaii United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: LOOKING IN: ROBERT FRANK'S THE AMERICANS, EXPANDED EDITION (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful publication that reveals the essence of who Robert Frank, one of the world's greatest photographers, is. From the excellent essays at the beginning of the book to his detailed contact sheets at the end, this book carefully chronicles some of the most important works of this artistic genius. As one goes through the book repeatedly, new insights and understanding of Robert Frank and his work continue to be revealed. It combines academic and aesthetic value as do few other books on photography. It is quite a tome but a great buy at the price offered online.