Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947-2019

Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947–2019 is the first exhibition to explore Robert Frank’s entire oeuvre as one of the most influential photographers in the history of the medium – from his first photographic experiments as a youth in Zurich, to his last, and perhaps most personal book Good days Quiet (2019).

Conceived by Robert Frank and his long-time printer and publisher Gerhard Steidl, the exhibition displays the three elements of Frank’s legacy – photographs, films and books – all in a form as humble, simple and bold as the approaches he employed in all his work. Frank’s photos are printed by Steidl on long sheets of newspaper and attached directly to the walls without frames, his films are projected onto the bare walls, while his photobooks are suspended on wires from the ceiling, for the viewer to wander and leaf through at will. Once concluded, the exhibition will be destroyed in a dismantling happening, leaving no materials to be retained or sold: in Robert Frank’s words, “Nothing left for the rotten art market!”

Indeed this exhibition was born out of this very conundrum: despite Robert Frank’s growing influence and popularity in past years there had been relatively few exhibitions of his work, due to the fragility of his vintage prints, the reluctance of museums and collectors to lend them, and their high insurance and transport costs. Printing the exhibition on paper with little material value cleverly circumvents the museum system and art market.

The contents of Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947–2019 range from the portfolio Frank brought with him to New York in 1947 and The Americans (images from the ground-breaking 1959 book as well as revelatory contact sheets), to the visual diaries (2010–17) which combine iconic images from Frank’s early career and later, more private pictures and text fragments in introspective scrapbook-like volumes, and his films including S-8 Stones Footage from Exile on Main St. (1971) and Fernando (2008).

Accompanying the exhibition is an unconventional catalogue on newsprint, first published by the German newspaper the Süddeutsche Zeitung; and now translated into Chinese, and re-designed by Theseus Chan for the exhibition at JCCAC. Conceived by Robert Frank and Gerhard Steidl and edited by Alex Rühle, it features interviews, essays, letters and opinion pieces alongside rich picture sequences, in a raw, unpretentious and affordable form that mirrors the innovative approach of the exhibition. In Robert Frank’s words: “Cheap, quick and dirty, that’s how I like it!”