© Robert Frank
On view
Photography
Contact sheet from The Americans,
1955–56, printed 1970s
Robert Frank, 1924–2019; born Zurich, Switzerland; died Inverness, Canada; active New York, NY, and Mabou, Canada
x1986-116
In 1955 Frank received a Guggenheim Fellowship to explore the United States with a “European eye.” The result was The Americans (1959), one of the most influential photographic books of the twentieth century. This contact sheet, produced directly from a roll of film, offers a glimpse into Frank’s working method. The bottom row, for example, shows five photographs taken in quick succession at a political rally in Chicago. Only the fourth appears in The Americans, revealing how editing—not just in-the-moment instinct— ultimately shaped Frank’s photographic vision.
Information
Title
Contact sheet from The Americans
Dates
1955–56, printed 1970s
Maker
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 50.1 × 39.3 cm (19 3/4 × 15 1/2 in.)
sheet: 50.7 × 40.4 cm (19 15/16 × 15 7/8 in.)
mat: 71.1 × 61 cm (28 × 24 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
Object Number
x1986-116
Place Made
North America, United States
Inscription
Titled, dated, and signed in ink, left side on 17th negative: The Americans 1956-55 R. Frank
In graphite, verso upper left: RF-7811-66
In graphite, verso right: 390-IV (M)
In graphite, lower left: MFA, H RF #104
Culture
Techniques
Subject
