Course: COMD 1340 Digital Photography [Photo 1]
Assignment: Review Robert Frank’s renowned photography book, “The Americans,” select one or two images, research their origin, and reproduce them within the context of your surroundings in Brooklyn.
Background: “The Americans” is a seminal work widely studied in art school programs1. Prior to my art school experience, I had encountered images from the book, but it became the yardstick for image-making in my artistic journey. Robert Frank, a Swiss immigrant, embarked on a journey through the United States, capturing a critical yet compassionate, mortified yet cynical view of our country. The book stirred considerable controversy.
I’ve always advocated for recreating various artworks, whether paintings, sculptures, or photographs, to gain deeper aesthetic insights. As artists, each creative experience is unique. I believed that applying this philosophy to my students’ culturally rich environment would be enlightening, and indeed, it was.
“The Americans” is an exploration of the United States from an outsider’s perspective. Given that many of our students have diverse backgrounds and often feel like outsiders, I believed this assignment would deeply resonate with them. The students captured their perspectives of the Brooklyn they knew, reflecting their vigilance and fearlessness.
The assignment was given as part of the Final Project; and students had seven weeks to complete it. Please see the assignment: COMD-1340_Robert-Frank_assignment
In the interim, they brought images and discoveries to class for their classmates’ critiques. These are six of the most recent; Robert Frank’s images are to the left, the students’ interpretations, to the right.
Reflection: The work the students returned for this project was deeply moving. The students achieved the internal goal of the assignment: to analyze images that resonated with them, and to search for them in their daily lives. At first, some students remarked that seeking an image that was taken far away–in time and place–would be impossible to find. However, since it is a long assignment, with time, students identified with particular images in “The Americans”, and, with camera in hand, discovered that a master’s view of life could also be their own.
