The Americans by Robert Frank, Jack Kerouac Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Americans
Book Review: The definitive "The Americans"
Summary: 5 Stars
We're lucky to have this edition. Robert Frank is an old man with health issues now. That he is healthy enough to oversee this work is wonderful. Everything about this edition - especially in comparison to the 2007 Delpine edition I purchased earlier this year - is first-rate. I wish I had known this was coming out!
The book is a little smaller than the Delpine, but that's the only real negative (if it is one) I can think of. The main thing to me is that the photos themselves are how Frank intended them to look. Gone are the overly-lightened faces that plague the Delpine book. This is a pet peeve of mine that kills many photos in this Photoshop age. This is very obvious in the New Orleans trolley photo. In the Delpine work, the faces of the white passengers are totally washed out, and the black faces are awkwardly lightened (someone apparently thought they were helping Frank's work). That's all corrected here. In this Steidl edition things are shown as they were intended. One can even see details in the face of the man at far left, even though it is partially obscured by a window reflection.
Also, on several photos more of the frame is visible. This was most noticeable to me in the Butte, Montana photo of the woman looking out the car window, with several children in the back seat. A good portion of the left side of the photo is now visible, along with more shown on the top and bottom. The new crop just seems more "right." Not too mention that the face of the child in the middle of the photo is too light in the older edition.
Simply put, comparing the two editions is an eye opener. I first saw these photos years ago in a much earlier edition (I believe it was the 1969 Aperture work) and I still marvel at the depth of the images in that printing. I don't have that edition in hand, so I can't do a direct comparison, but I believe the Steidl images are much closer to that ideal. Franks prefers his images a little on the flat, low-key side. Another difference is that the photos are now printed on a non-glossy paper. I was surprised at this at first, but now I believe it works much better for this book.
In short, if you want an accurate, lovingly-printed edition of The Americans at a reasonable price, this is the one. Highly recommended.
Book Review: The open road of Robert Frank
Summary: 5 Stars
In this new edition of THE AMERICANS, the publisher, Steidl seems to have taken every step necessary to maintain artistic integrity of Franks vision. Even going as far as having Frank supervise the new printing of the photographs used in the book. The paper used in the book is very high quality, perhaps even 'archival' grade. Of course, there is the Kerouac introduction that both rambles, amuses and enlightens. There is a small pamphlet included in the book briefly telling the background story of how this new edition came to life. While this pamphlet is basically an advertisement, it also provides the passing fan of Robert Frank with a greater knowledge of what Frank has done over the course of his life by listing other books and movies that Stiedl will be publishing in the future. Thoughtfully, museum dates are also given for those interested enough to travel to D.C., SF or, NYC for the 50th anniversary celebration and exhibition of the book. From Steidl, this is a fine book; from Frank, a work of art; and a labor of love from all involved.Book Review: The reality of America
Summary: 5 Stars
In this book, Robert Frank changed the way photography represented this country. When people hear "America," most of them think freedom, picnics, American flags, hot dogs, and cowboys. What they don't realize is that Frank's photographs show so much more than that. There is rarely any glamour, but what is shown is the real face of America.
With an introduction by Jack Kerouac, the reader gets a good idea of what they're about to see before they even lay eyes on the photographs. Kerouac praises Frank on how he captured "the humor, the sadness, the EVERYTHING-ness and America-ness" of this country. Photographing in the mid-late 1950's, Frank traveled across the country to reveal the reality of America as opposed to the wonderful country that people around the world had envisioned. Each photograph is paired with a lone caption title leaving the reader to wonder the entire story behind the image: a gentleman sitting on a bench as a group of Yale graduates walk by him, a Jehovah's Witness holding a pamphlet, a half-clothed man sleeping on a blanket in the park, a couple at a charity ball--just to name a few. The cover photograph is outstanding as well, which is an image of the two white boys in the middle of the segregated train in between the whites and blacks became an iconic image; one that shows clearly one of the many segregation issues that citizens had to deal with on a daily basis during that historical movement.
There is nothing posed in the photographs, nothing set up or pre-planned... all of these photographs are made in the best way possible: candidly. Robert Frank saw this country in a new way and because of him most of us see it in that way as well. Kerouac says it best at the conclusion of his introduction: "Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucks a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking ran among the tragic poets of the world."
Book Review: Very inspirational
Summary: 5 Stars
Great book, not much new to say about it. But I find it fantastically inspirational in that it again show a series of very successful images based in vision and imagery instead of tools and mechanics. For today's photographers its very easy to get trapped in megapixel and the latest lens race.. this is a book shot for images. If you are a photographer or into photography, just buy the book and start enjoying, you will come back to this over and over again.Book Review: Worth the Money
Summary: 4 Stars
The controversy surrounding this book is the perfectly natural - even compelled - result of the fact that 83 pictures cannot begin to represent the absolute infinite number of perspectives on life in the United States - or, the world, for that matter. Indeed, that it is titled "The Americans," with the intimation that it is a definitive photographic explication of the topic, demands the debate. Nevertheless, the pictures are deeply evocative and I am so pleased to have it in my library.
One other note on Mr. Frank. I became familiar with him through an interview on the Bob Edwards radio show related to the fiftieth anniversary of the book's publication. In that interview, Mr. Frank noted that he saw southerners in the fifties as "arrogant in their righteousness," and went to express his gratitude that things had changed since then. Having been born in the deep south in 1954, and having lived here all my life, I share some of Mr. Frank's gratitude that things have changed. However, pockets of the South remain backwards, despite the changes that have taken place around them. In these pockets, folks remain overbearing in their righteousness - arrogant and primitive in their fundamentalist religious faith. Often as not they abuse - simply because they can get away with it - those who don't think according to their prescribed and, sadly, myopic "norms." In these areas, anti-intellectualism is seen as a positive character trait.
But, if you have a genuine interest in - and are open to the idea of - seeing the world through insightful eyes, you wouldn't be wasting your money on this book.