Robert Frank: "The Americans"

Going on the field trip to the exhibition of Robert Frank’s The Americans in the National Gallery in D.C. turned out to be a really interesting experience. After having done several photography projects in class, I have learned how to take, develop and print pictures and developed a better understanding of how much work photography is and how many possibilities to express oneself it comprehends. To combine the knowledge that I have gained in class with the exhibition of pictures of a famous photographer lets me experience the exhibition from a different point of view than if I had seen it without this class.

It was interesting to see not only Robert Frank’s enlarged final pictures but also his contact sheets and work prints. I think that made his exhibition a lot more accessible for us students as we can see the photographer going through a process and taking the same steps as we do in class. It also helped me a lot to have gotten a little insight about his work before going to the exhibition and during the tour. I think it is very impressive that he actually photographed inconspicuous day-to-day situation of his time in quick moments, but by capturing and presenting them the way he did, he gave these circumstances importance, attention and a critical voice, that speaks to us even more than half a century later. I especially have the picture in mind that shows the bus and its passengers sitting in a racial seating order. But also very other picture conveys his attitude on society back than to us nowadays.