A few weeks ago I received my copy of "Looking in: Robert Frank's The Americans" a voluminous new book published by Steidl for the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and edited by Sarah Greenough for the 50th anniversary of publication of The Americans.
Looking In is published in two editions: the expanded edition - the one in my possession - a heavy and voluminous tome of about 530 pages, which includes extensive analysis of The Americans, an in-depth portrayal of Frank's experience before and after his arrival in America, and an impressive survey of all of the original materials for the Guggenheim grant that secured Frank the funds for his project; plus the original and unedited contact sheets and a comparative review of the various editions of The Americans. The lighter paperback edition contains all of the text of the hardcover edition, but lacks all of the contact sheets, the sequencing and cropping pages from the various editions, and the correspondence and archive materials.
This is an amazing labor of love. Love for photography, its book form, and above all for Robert Frank's seminal work on 1950's America. But it is also a great learning tool that every photographer can use to study one of the master photographers of the last 100 years, study him at work, his editing approach, the thousands of rejects that did not make the final set, the amount of changes that have gone into the various editions of the book (which defy the naive and common view of the photograph as a static work of art to be revered and celebrated, and the actual dynamic/evolutionary aspect of the real workings of a photographer dedicated to the quality of his work.)
The book's publication coincides with an exhibition by the same name, which runs Jan 19th--Apr 26 at the NGA in DC; at the SF MoMA, May 16--Aug 23; at the Met, Sep 22--Dec27.
I bought my copy on Amazon (Amazon.com: Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans, Expanded Edition: Sarah Greenough, Robert Frank: Books)
The cover of the book (© 2009 Sarah Greenough for Steidl)
