1951
Though he was born in Switzerland, photographer Robert Frank’s greatest legacy was his representation of places and figures across the United States, the bulk of which was published in a seminal book titled The Americans.
Frank emigrated to America in 1948, settling in New York City, where he was hired as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar by the magazine’s legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch, who also recruited Lisette Model, Richard Avedon and mid-century-era style-setting couple Leslie Gill and Frances McLaughlin-Gill. Frank’s artistic style — and use of a 35mm Leica, an unconventional choice in the fashion world — proved not to be a fit, however, and he left the job after a few months. He went on to produce street photography around the city while working freelance jobs for the likes of Vogue, Life and other publications.
But it was leaving New York that would produce Frank’s most notable work. Throughout the 1950s, with the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship and guidance from Walker Evans, he embarked on a series of cross-country road trips, traversing nearly every state in the continental U.S. and producing a wealth of arresting photographs of its inhabitants. The black-and-white images pioneered what became known as a “snapshot aesthetic,” capturing a spontaneous moment. Subjects are often out of focus and rarely looking toward the camera, and rippled fabric or bent grasses often suggest movement and breeze.
After an initial publication in France, where the photographs appear alongside essays, The Americans was released in the U.S. in 1959 with a foreword by author Jack Kerouac, who espoused Frank’s ability to capture a uniquely American spirit.
“That crazy feeling in America,” Kerouac wrote, “when the sun is hot and music comes out of the jukebox or from a nearby funeral, that’s what Robert Frank has captured in tremendous photographs taken as he traveled on the road around practically forty-eight states in an old used car.”
Following the release of The Americans, Frank turned much of his attention to film. He would go on to produce a film version of Kerouac’s The Beat Generation and cofounded the New American Cinema Group in 1960. He died in 2019.
Find Robert Frank photography on 1stDibs.
André Kertész, Melancholic Tulip, 1939, Silver Gelatin Print, Black and White
By Andre Kertesz
Located in London, GB
Melancholic Tulip, 1939 - André Kertész Silver gelatin print, printed later 14 x 11 inches André Kertész was a Hungarian-born photographer whose work was characterised by unusual pe...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
All Paris in a Box, 1931 - Ilse Bing (Black and White Photography) 20th Century
By Isle Bing
Located in London, GB
Ilse Bing All Paris in a Box, 1931 Signed and dated Signed and inscribed with title and date on reverse Silver gelatin print 15 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches Ilse Bing (1899-1998), working wi...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled, from the series 'Paris Flea Markets', 1933 - Kati Horna
By Kati Horna
Located in London, GB
Kati Horna Untitled, from the series 'Paris Flea Markets', 1933 Signed and stamped with artist's copyright ink stamp on reverse Silver gelatin print, printed later 9 x 8 inches Kati...
Silver Gelatin
Woman in the Streets of Paris, c.1935 - Dora Maar (Vintage Contact Print)
By Dora Maar
Located in London, GB
Dora Maar Woman in the Streets of Paris [Back View July 14?], (Femme dans les Rues de Paris [Back View 14 Juillet?]), c. 1935 Vintage unique silver gelatin contact print 2 x 2 1/4 in...
Silver Gelatin
Avenue du Maine, Paris, 1932 - Ilse Bing (Black & White Photography)
By Isle Bing
Located in London, GB
Ilse Bing Avenue du Maine, Paris, 1932 Stamped with photographer's credit ink stamp on reverse Silver gelatin print 7 3/4 x 11 inches Ilse Bing (1899-1998), working with a Leica, br...
Silver Gelatin
Façade with French Flag, Paris, 1934 - Ilse Bing (Black and White Photography)
By Isle Bing
Located in London, GB
Ilse Bing Façade with French Flag, Paris, 1934 Signed and dated Silver gelatin print 11 x 7 1/4 inches Ilse Bing (1899-1998), working with a Leica, brought a radical precision to th...
Silver Gelatin
George Rodger - Tulips are growing again, Photography 1946, Printed After
By George Rodger
Located in Greenwich, CT
Tulips are growing again in Alsmeer, documented for Life Magazine by photojournalist George Rodger, 1946. All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edit...
Silver Gelatin
Melancholic Tulip, New York
By Andre Kertesz
Located in Toronto, Ontario
André Kertész (1894 - 1985) was a Hungarian-born photographer renowned for his trailblazing contributions to both photojournalism and the medium as an art form. Expected by his fam...
Silver Gelatin
Voiture de Quatre-Saisons: Les Fleurs de la Place du Marche Saint-Honore [Le Gos
By Robert Doisneau
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Robert Doisneau 1912-1994 Voiture de Quatre-Saisons: Les Fleurs de la Place du Marche Saint-Honore [Le Gosse aux Baguettes], 1946/Printed Later Signed in ink on recto; titled & dated...
Silver Gelatin
Robert Frank Untitled from the Americans, 1958, Beats Culture, Black & White
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Robert Frank Untitled from the Americans, 1958, Beats Culture, Black & White. Photogravure print, mid-century, France,wax tissue mounted on conservation matboard. Influenced by the work of Jakob Tuggener and Bill Brandt, as well as Walker Evans, Frank, a native of Switzerland, Frank was fascinated by documentary photography and the notion and image of "America." Frank secured a Guggenheim fellowship in 1955 to do something new and unconstrained by commercial diktats. "The Americans" was first published in 1958 in France, before its first run in the US in 1959. The photographs were shocking and notable for their distanced view of both high and low strata of American society, creating a complicated portrait of a period that was, then and now, considered to be a skeptical portrait of post-WWII American values but also deeply empathetic and profoundly evocative of ubiquitous loneliness. Frank found a tension in the gloss of American culture and wealth over race and class differences, which gave his photographs a clear contrast to those of most contemporary American photojournalists, as did his use of unusual focus, low lighting and cropping that deviated from accepted photographic techniques. Shortly before the book was published in France, Frank returned to the US (1957) and met Jack Kerouac on the sidewalk outside a party. They started chatting. Frank showed him some of his photographs. Kerouac immediately told Frank "Sure, I can write something about these pictures." Kerouac would write the introduction to the American edition of the book, published two years later. Sociologist Howard S...
Paper
Silver Tulip
By Sheila Metzner
Located in New York, NY
This photograph is signed by the photographer and is printed using the Fresson printing process. Size varies.
Black and White
Untitled (Paris), November 2, 1980
By Andre Kertesz
Located in Toronto, ON
6 1/2" x 9 5/8" Unframed Silver Gelatin Print Hand Signed by Andre Kertesz
Silver Gelatin
