Emulation: Robert Frank

"It is always the instantaneous reaction to oneself that produces a photograph." Robert Frank

Robert Frank

American, born Switzerland, 1924

Quote by Robert Frank: “I have been frequently accused of deliberately twisting subject matter to my point of view. Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love. It is important to see what is invisible to others. Perhaps the look of hope or the look of sadness. Also, it is always the instantaneous reaction to oneself that produces a photograph.  My photographs are not planned or composed in advance and I do not anticipate that the onlooker will share my viewpoint. However, I feel that if my photograph leaves an image on his or her mind--something has been accomplished.”

My goal this semester was to expand my photography in a new direction.  I’ve been taking photographs since 1957. I’ve always felt that photography was an art form, a way of expressing who I am and what I like.  My photographs included those memorable moments with family and friends of course.  However, it also included capturing those places of interest to me, mostly landscapes. I was never interested or comfortable with photographing strangers. 

Instead, I usually waited patiently until those strangers to move out of the frame so I could capture the image I wanted, be it a lighthouse, building or landscape scene. 

This semester my goal was to expand my photography in a new direction.  I was going to take photographs of strangers! I started timidly during an earlier assignment called the 8ighth Street Exercises.  I went to Jenness Beach in Rye, NH to photograph the surfers.  It was a foggy day. Great! I could hide in the fog! I then returned to the beach the next day.  The fog had lifted.  However, I was a little more comfortable the second day when taking photographs of the surfers.  This exercise transitioned into the next assignment titled Flaneur.  I spent a total of five days returning to the beach photographing surfers (strangers). During that time I talked to many people and learned a lot about these strangers and their passion for surfing.  I spoke with families from Quebec who came down each year during their kid’s vacation to surf with their children. I also talked to a group of college kids who belonged to an outing club at Dartmouth College.   They all had a wonderful story and a love for surfing. 

That experience inspired me photograph strangers for my final project - Emulation.  My quest now was to find a photographer who captured photographs of strangers and a story at the same time.

I took out a number of books from the UNH library.

• Bernice Abbott Photographs published by the Smithsonian Institution Press. Photographs of people and place in New York City

• The Maverick Eye:  The Street Photography of John Deakin published in 2002 by Thames and Hudson.

• Robert Frank The Americans originally published in 1958 by Robert Delphire, Paris and then in 1959 by Grove Press, New York.

• Robert Frank In America, published in 2014 owned by Mike Cardinali, UNH

The photographs of each book helped me formulate the direction I wish to follow for my final project. I was also influenced by my cousin Marcia Callahan who has a knack of photographing strangers in many of her photographs that she posts on Instagram.

I finally chose Robert Frank to emulate, based upon his photographs and a quote I read online by him (see above quote). I also learned on a YouTube video that Robert Frank took 28,000 pictures before choosing 83 pictures for his book, The Americans.  Based on that ratio, I will need to take over 5000 pictures to get 15 photographs for my final project!!

As I stroll the streets of Portsmouth, NH waiting for those decisive moments to capture an image on my camera’s digital sensor, I hope that the viewer will wonder what is the story to be told when the photograph is printed and viewed.