The Americans

Robert Frank is a fucking master. This is life, this is real, this is humanity with pimples, warts, and a ribbon.

"The Americans" is a much-acclaimed book of photographs lauded by practically all. I had wanted to see it for a long time, but I found it to be a disappointment.

"The Americans" ostensibly portrays a view of America in the late 1940's and early 1950s and it is easy to understand its appeal to those who believe the "greatness" of the United States is overrated. It focuses on working class individuals, many elderly. Those wealthy individuals it portrays are depicted in social situations with ostentatious displays of wealth (e.g., an elderly woman wearing a fur coat in Miami). Nowhere is there a sign of the hope or optimism that characterized large swaths of the American population during those times.

I recognize the difficulty of capturing show more the essence of America in a scant 83 photos but I was struck by how little of the rich diversity that characterizes America the book captures. For example, "The Americans" largely ignores or distorts the rites of passage that are so important in all societies. Babies, a source of joy to most Americans, are represented in a picture of a baby lying alone on the floor by a jukebox. Teens are depicted in static poses that deny their youthful exuberance. Weddings are absent, yet symbolic decapitations (by flags, stairs, and a tuba) appear repeatedly.

"The Americans" is not without some strong images. Frank's photo of passengers on a bus in New Orleans is widely acclaimed for its portrayal of social stratification in America; partially obscured white male followed by white female, white children, black male and black female. Another powerful photo shows a black nanny and white baby looking in different directions. The same symbolism is present is his photograph of a graduation ceremony. The young graduates face one direction and the weary older gentleman faces the opposite direction. These images present a striking metaphor of the different paths open to each. The vastness of the U. S. is captured in a photo of U. S. 285 in New Mexico and to a lesser extend in other photos. However, those images depict barren land marred by human artifacts that is devoid of any sense of majesty or beauty.

"The Americans" seen through Frank's camera lacks vitality and energy. In the absence of images that depict positive attributes such as energy, hope, compassion, or joy, Frank shows us empty rooms and spaces without people. Some of the images are of poor quality or of such a narrow range of focus that the message is muted.

Frank's purpose may have been merely to document what he saw, but I wonder if he saw only what appeared in the book. He has been credited with documenting the social stratification of America, but decades earlier the more compelling images of Dorothea Lange, Alfred Stieglitz, and Walker Evans, to mention only a select few, produced superior works that had a greater impact. For example, Frank depicts a Detroit assembly line as dark and unattractive, perhaps a fair social statement, but a decade earlier Lewis W. Hinds provided much more compelling photos of work and a more effective argument for social reform.

Finally, "The Americans" lacks page numbers and a list of photos. As a consequence, returning to examine particular images requires a time-consuming, page-turning search. show less

These images are surely the progenitors of modern photographic social commentary, and they are poignant and affecting, but I wasn’t wowed. I probably should try to appreciate them for their historical context, but that’s a drab, dull way to interact with art.
Also, I did not appreciate Kerouac’s repetitive, pretentious foreward. Yes, yes - you make up words that sound like feelings. Aren’t you amazing?!

The Americans captures American life in a raw, seemingly unedited state. Robert Frank and his camera traveled the country in 1955 and 1956 and captured the variety of life found within its borders. Like Jack Kerouac notes in the Introduction he wrote, each photograph is like a poem. There is no overt meaning to most photos, it's simply life, left up to the reader to draw conclusions. I like this most about Frank, he lets his readers figure out the pictures for themselves. Titles are simple - stating just a location generally. The rest is up to the viewer.
These 83 photographs capture the chasm that was, and still is, found in America. The wealthy contrasted against the poor. The increasing role of technology in the American culture show more contrasted with vast deserted lands. Frank captured it all.
This is a wonderful book, beautifully printed, that everyone should look through at least one. But really, it deserves several read throughs, as each time new insights can be gleaned. Required reading for anyone interested in American culture, politics, class studies, economics, and art. show less

A classic in terms of establishing simple photographs of ordinary life in the mid 1950s across America. The focus of the book is on the photos with one photo on each 2 page spread. Let the photos speak for themselves. A good reminder that powerful photography does not have to have HDR, perfect light, skies, and no blemishes. The intro by Jack Kerouac is disappointing. It doesn't say much and just wanders through little statements about random photos.

"A sad poem right out of America onto film" - Jack Kerouac
Review of the Stiedl hardcover edition (2008) of the Grove Press hardcover original (1959)

It could seem as if Frank threw his Leica into the world and let it catch what it could, which happened, without fail, to be something exciting - fascination, pain, hilarity, disgust, longing ... No limit to the variety of feelings, with the one uniform rule that they be bleedingly raw. - excerpt from The Shock of Robert Frank's "The Americans" by Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, Sept. 10, 2019.

... flawed by meaningless blur, grain, muddy exposure, drunken horizons and general sloppiness. - excerpt from an early review in Popular Photography 1960.

See photograph at show more target="_top">https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2019/09/robertfrank1-1200x789.jpg
Photograph of Robert Frank and his 35mm Leica camera (1954) by Fred Stein. Image sourced from PBS.org

The Americans is the result of a 9 month trip through 30 U.S. States during 1955-56. Swiss-American photographer Robert Frank (1924-2019) shot what is variously estimated as between 20,000 to 28,000 Black & White photographs during this 10,000 mile journey . After developing the 767 rolls of film, he made 1,000 work prints out of which he selected only 83 images for the final book.

As opposed to what most would have expected as the exuberance of the post-World War II boom years, Frank's images more often show resigned faces proceeding through the events of life from birth to death. There are shots of babes in arms, people on the street, at lunch counters, at bars with jukeboxes (jukeboxes seemed to be a Frank favourite), at parties, at funerals. The images are often caught on the fly, sometimes with unsuspecting subjects turning to stare resentfully at the camera. No opinions are stated in the book by Frank. There are only generic identifiers of subject and location such as "Canal Street - New Orleans 1955", "Trolley - New Orleans 1955", etc.

The final product was considered too controversial at first to be published in the U.S. and first saw print as Les Américains (1958) Delpire, France. It was finally published in the U.S. in late 1959 by Grove Press and the Stiedl publication is its 50th Anniversary edition.

In the book, each photograph becomes an essay in which the viewer must write the rest of the text. Why was this one of 83 selected out of 28,000 possibilities? What is it saying in itself? What is it saying about the people and objects in it? What is it saying about America, Americans and the world at large? You can ponder those thoughts for a very long time.

Other Reviews
The Americans by Jim Casper at Lens Culture, September 2019. This includes a selection of the photographs. show less

When I discovered “The Americans,” by Robert Frank as a student, it changed not only my career but how I approached all my subjects when I was working as a photographer. Probably one of the best collection of images ever assembled in one project.