Book Review: The Americans, Robert Frank

The generally accepted opinion has that if you should refer to any photobook it should be Robert Frank’s The Americans.

It’s certainly a solid start if your interest is in photojournalism and street photography. The book, includes images taken on a trip through 43 of the United States of America in the 19650s.

The photography itself is an essay in how to bend the rules and came at a time in photography when taking the perfect shot was more about the time place and event, than perfect technical exposure, so it’s a encouraging starting point.

Many of the images are hastily snapped images taken in venues where perhaps the intrusion of a camera may not have been welcomed. ‘Bar, Gallop’ is one such shot, taken from the hip in a bar in Mexico, it’s a bare-fisted, rough and ready depiction of a working bar complete with Stetsons and whatever else the patrons of the bar toted. The shot is grainy and off-angle, and is as uncomfortable as perhaps the bar was. You get a feel of the place not just from the subjects, but in the hasty framing.

Each image is monochrome which adds to the sense of reportage. Grainy, immediate; the viewer can sense the moments passing as each page is turned.

The body of work is a comment on American society. Simply captioned “The Americans” was intended to cover all aspects of American life. From funerals to society balls, from the dusty side roads of impoverished South Carolina to the red carpets of Hollywood, rags to riches it catalogues the rot of capitalism as polarises mid 20^th century America.

It’s compelling viewing once you get past the lengthy introduction by Jack Kerouac who seems intend on romping off into what could possibly be an alcohol-induced prank, mouth running away with him and off into a reverie that barely relates to the photographs that follow.

It’s your choice to go with him or simply explore Frank’s work yourself. And it’s extremely easy to do so, too: The layout of the book is simple with one image on the right hand page of each double page spread. The white background carefully selected to frame the images, while the caption is subtly placed in the bottom left hand corner of the left hand page. I like this approach as it allows the viewer to appreciate each image without the distraction of text.

Certainly for the subject, the layout works beautifully; perhaps Frank is being tactful or democratic but whatever the subject; a Hollywood starlet or the deceased at their funeral, each image is given the same space and dedication; it’s objective and allows the viewer to witness and make their own evaluation.

Initially it’s a layout that I’d like to use for my own photobook, however the subject of my work is very different and I’d like to use more panoramic views and have the image take up more of each page so that the viewer can experience my images in a more contemplative way.