Photographer Robert Frank Dies Aged 94

by SHOWstudio on 11 September 2019

Robert Frank, the Swiss-American photographer and filmmaker who revolutionised post-war photography, dies at 94.

Robert Frank, the Swiss-American photographer and filmmaker who revolutionised post-war photography, dies at 94.

'There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment', Robert Frank once said. Born in Zurich in 1924, Frank emigrated to New York in 1947. His black and white photography recorded urban and rural social realities, finding poetic beauty in depravation. Following projects in Peru, London and Wales, Frank compiled The Americans (1958), a prestigious photobook exposing the cracks in the American Dream.

Heralded for changing the landscape of post-war photography, Frank was pivotal in a move towards realism. 'With that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film', noted Jack Kerouac.

In addition to his pioneering photography, Frank is well recognised for his filmmaking, notably Cocksucker Blues, a documentary of the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour. With sex and drugs in abundance, the film encapsulates his raw approach to image-making.

We at SHOWstudio express our deepest condolences.

'Chicago', 1969, Robert Frank
'The Americans', circa1959, Robert Frank
'Robert Frank', 1975, Richard Avedon

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