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Home>Robert Frank Collection Guide>The Americans 1955-57

# 

# The Robert Frank Collection

*Democratic National Convention*, 1956, 1996.147.1

***The Americans*, 1955–1957**

In October of 1958, French publisher Robert Delpire released *Les Américains* in Paris. The following year Grove Press published *The Americans* in New York with an introduction by Jack Kerouac (the book was released in January 1960).

Like Frank's earlier books, the sequence of 83 pictures in *The Americans* is non-narrative and nonlinear; instead it uses thematic, formal, conceptual and linguistic devices to link the photographs. Unlike *Peru*, in which the order of pictures was not firmly established, *The Americans* displays a deliberate structure, an emphatic narrator, and what Frank called a "distinct and intense order" that amplified and tempered the individual pictures.

Although not immediately evident, *The Americans* is constructed in four sections. Each begins with a picture of an American flag and proceeds with a rhythm based on the interplay between motion and stasis, the presence and absence of people, observers and those being observed. The book as a whole explores the American people—black and white, military and civilian, urban and rural, poor and middle class—as they gather in drugstores and diners, meet on city streets, mourn at funerals, and congregate in and around cars. With piercing vision, poetic insight, and distinct photographic style, Frank reveals the politics, alienation, power, and injustice at play just beneath the surface of his adopted country.

Since its original publication, *The Americans* has appeared in numerous editions and has been translated into several languages*.*The cropping of images has varied slightly over the years, but their order has remained intact, as have the titles and Kerouac's introductory text. The book, fiercely debated in the first years following its release, has**made an indelible mark on American culture and changed the course of 20th-century photography.

Selected prints from *The Americans*

The 81 contact sheets containing frames that were published in *The Americans* offer insight into Frank's working method by allowing the viewer to, in a sense, look over the photographer's shoulder as he pursues his subjects. Sometimes, he took several shots of a scene at barely distinguishable angles, in search of the ideal arrangement. But often he responded immediately and intuitively to rapidly changing events to produce a brilliant, spontaneous photograph of a fleeting subject. 

Collection search (illustrated): *The Americans*contact sheets

Most of *The Americans* contact sheets contain several frames marked by Frank with red or black squares, arrows, question marks, or X's.  Sometimes whole strips are marked with roman numerals, or lines across a frame indicate a potential crop. These marks reveal another aspect of Frank's artistry: the discerning eye that succeeded in narrowing down over 20,000 pictures to the 83 that would ultimately be published. Often, Frank printed several work prints from a single contact sheet, many of which were rejected and have never been published or exhibited.

**Selected contact sheet, work print, and final print sequences**The sequences illustrated below begin with the contact sheet, then show work prints in the order in which they appear on the contact sheet, and then the final print, if in the Collection.     Americans 18/19     Americans 29     Americans 35     Americans 36     Americans 42     Americans 58     Americans 61     Americans 79

About the 2009 exhibition, *Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans*

Elson lecture, 2009: Robert Frank (Audio)

In this podcast of the annual Elson Lecture, recorded on March 26, 2009, Robert Frank speaks with curator Sarah Greenough about his career before, during, and after *The Americans*.

Introduction to the CollectionPhotographs, Contact Sheets, Work Prints, and Volumes    Switzerland 1941–1946    *40 Fotos*, 1946    New York 1947–1954    *Peru*, 1948    Europe 1949–1953    *Black White and Things*, 1952    The Guggenheim Trip, 1955–1957    *The Americans*, 1955–1957    *From the Bus*, 1958    Photographs and Film 1959–1980    New York and Nova Scotia, 1971–2005NegativesPhotographs by Other PhotographersTechnical MaterialPapers, Books and RecordingsFilm and Video

Provenance

Publications about Robert FrankBooks of photographs by Robert Frank

Access and Rights

Acknowledgments

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