j.sugarmann
Los Angeles (1955 - 1956)
"Los Angeles (1955 - 1956)" shot by Robert Frank in California in 1956. Silver gelatin print on paper, 35.4 cm x 28.1 cm. Print as shown is property of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Born in Switzerland in 1924, Robert Frank completed his first handmade photography book, 40 Photos, in 1946. A child of privilege, Frank had turned to photography as a means to escape the confines of his family business. He immigrated to the United States in 1947 to work as a freelance photojournalist and fashion photographer. Frank left the United States often after his arrival; he developed a distaste for American culture and pursued work abroad as it became available to him. In 1955 Frank secured a Guggenheim photography grant and went on a two-year photographic survey of American culture which culminated into the major publishing accomplishment of his career, The Americans (1957.) Frank’s book, which presented a rather grim and skeptical portrayal of American culture, was at first poorly received in the United States. Published in Paris in 1957, the book was not released in the States until 1959. It was embellished with a forward penned by Jack Kerouac, though, and as the popularity of the Beat movement progressed so did the mainstream interpretation of Frank’s work. In 1961 Frank received his first American solo show at the Art Institute of Chicago, shortly followed by a 1962 exhibition at MOMA in New York. At about the time Frank was reaching his greatest success in photography he began to develop a stronger interest in film. Frank completed a series of experimental films which led up to his greatest commercial success with the moving image, the 1972 Rolling Stones Documentary Cocksucker Blues. Frank has worked continuously since the 50’s in the media of both still and motion picture. His personal life, in contrast to his professional life, has been rather tragic, him having lost both of his children at young ages. Robert Frank is currently represented by the Pace/MacGill Gallery in NY.
This image, shot in Los Angeles in 1956, was taken while Robert Frank was working on his book The Americans. The photograph, which is shot from either a rooftop or an upper story window, shows a commercial building on a run-down Los Angeles street. A man trods in front of the building, somewhat dejected in his posture. A neon arrow mounted on the building face above the man’s head points towards the direction in which he is headed. The shapes within Frank’s composition create a series of angles, each of which becomes more acute as it nears the right margin of the photograph. The effect Frank creates with this composition is that of a pinched environment. The featured man is walking into this pinch, seemingly under the suggestion of the neon arrow. Frank is using this instance to make some suggestions about the culture of Los Angeles. The man is shown to be controlled by the neon arrow; his individual will is lost in the pursuit of something garish and gleaming. The gleaming possibility in this case is leading him into further constraint; the pinched destination represents a failure of will, a submission to passivity and boring normalcy. Frank is portraying a bleak image of Los Angeles in this case; painting it as a shoddy and artificial location that leads the American into an aggressive pursuit of glowing meaninglessness.
Los Angeles (1955 - 1956)
"Los Angeles (1955 - 1956)" shot by Robert Frank in California in 1956. Silver gelatin print on paper, 35.4 cm x 28.1 cm. Print as shown is property of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Born in Switzerland in 1924, Robert Frank completed his first handmade photography book, 40 Photos, in 1946. A child of privilege, Frank had turned to photography as a means to escape the confines of his family business. He immigrated to the United States in 1947 to work as a freelance photojournalist and fashion photographer. Frank left the United States often after his arrival; he developed a distaste for American culture and pursued work abroad as it became available to him. In 1955 Frank secured a Guggenheim photography grant and went on a two-year photographic survey of American culture which culminated into the major publishing accomplishment of his career, The Americans (1957.) Frank’s book, which presented a rather grim and skeptical portrayal of American culture, was at first poorly received in the United States. Published in Paris in 1957, the book was not released in the States until 1959. It was embellished with a forward penned by Jack Kerouac, though, and as the popularity of the Beat movement progressed so did the mainstream interpretation of Frank’s work. In 1961 Frank received his first American solo show at the Art Institute of Chicago, shortly followed by a 1962 exhibition at MOMA in New York. At about the time Frank was reaching his greatest success in photography he began to develop a stronger interest in film. Frank completed a series of experimental films which led up to his greatest commercial success with the moving image, the 1972 Rolling Stones Documentary Cocksucker Blues. Frank has worked continuously since the 50’s in the media of both still and motion picture. His personal life, in contrast to his professional life, has been rather tragic, him having lost both of his children at young ages. Robert Frank is currently represented by the Pace/MacGill Gallery in NY.
This image, shot in Los Angeles in 1956, was taken while Robert Frank was working on his book The Americans. The photograph, which is shot from either a rooftop or an upper story window, shows a commercial building on a run-down Los Angeles street. A man trods in front of the building, somewhat dejected in his posture. A neon arrow mounted on the building face above the man’s head points towards the direction in which he is headed. The shapes within Frank’s composition create a series of angles, each of which becomes more acute as it nears the right margin of the photograph. The effect Frank creates with this composition is that of a pinched environment. The featured man is walking into this pinch, seemingly under the suggestion of the neon arrow. Frank is using this instance to make some suggestions about the culture of Los Angeles. The man is shown to be controlled by the neon arrow; his individual will is lost in the pursuit of something garish and gleaming. The gleaming possibility in this case is leading him into further constraint; the pinched destination represents a failure of will, a submission to passivity and boring normalcy. Frank is portraying a bleak image of Los Angeles in this case; painting it as a shoddy and artificial location that leads the American into an aggressive pursuit of glowing meaninglessness.