50th Anniversary of Robert Frank's The Americans

Oh, if only we could make it to every amazing exhibition everywhere, all the time! If only, if only...

You may have a chance to see this one though, as it is a traveling exhibition that will be on view in D.C., New York and San Francisco throughout 2009. Information on the exhibition at The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is below:

Robert Frank (b. 1924)
Parade - Hoboken, New Jersey, 1955
Private Collection, San Francisco

First published in France in 1958 and in the United States in 1959, Robert Frank's The Americans is widely celebrated as the most important photography book since World War II. Including 83 photographs made largely in 1955 and 1956 while Frank (b. 1924) traveled around the United States, the book looked beneath the surface of American life to reveal a profound sense of alienation, angst, and loneliness. With these prophetic photographs, Frank redefined the icons of America, noting that cars, jukeboxes, gas stations, diners, and even the road itself were telling symbols of contemporary life. Frank's style—seemingly loose, casual compositions, with often rough, blurred, out-of-focus foregrounds and tilted horizons—was just as controversial and influential as his subject matter. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the book's publication by presenting all 83 photographs from The Americans in the order established by the book, and by providing a detailed examination of the book's roots in Frank's earlier work, its construction, and its impact on his later art.

Schedule: National Gallery of Art, January 18–April 26, 2009; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 16–August 23, 2009; Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 22–December 27, 2009

Reading the Modern Photography Book: Changing Perceptions

Held in conjunction with Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans," this exhibition examines a variety of artistic and thematic approaches to the modern photography book, displaying examples that span the period from the late 1920s to the early 1970s. The photography book, more than simply a book containing photographs, is a publication composed by the careful sequencing and editing of photographic material. Often produced by a photographer, they present visual narratives through creative page design that frequently integrates photographs with text and graphic elements. This focus exhibition organizes 21 books from the Gallery's library into four themes: "New Visions," "Documented Realities," "Postwar Scenes," and "Conceptual Practices." It highlights diverse projects from individual photographers such as László Moholy-Nagy, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Yasuhiro Ishimoto as well as collaborative projects from the Hungarian Work Circle (Munka Kör) and Andy Warhol's Factory, revealing that the photography book is both a significant conveyer of contemporary experience and a witness to historical events.

Below is a link to a slideshow of images:
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2009/frank/library/index.shtm

And, an excellent brochure can be found if you scroll down on this page:
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/frankinfo.shtm#photobook

All content from http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/frankinfo.shtm