American witness : the art and life of Robert Frank /

Robert Frank is notoriously private. When Smith tracked him down and told him he was writing a biography, the famed photographer, best known for his photo book, The Americans (1958), simply wished him luck. In lieu of new firsthand accounts, Smith cobbles together a detailed account of Frank's life via archival materials, previously published interviews, and analyses of Frank's photographs. From these fragments, Smith writes a comprehensive biography that follows the photographer from his childhood in Nazi-occupied Switzerland; to his early career cavorting with the Beats and the abstract expressionists in New York City; his mid-1950s cross-country adventure shooting The Americans, with his young family in tow; to his retreat to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, with his second wife, the artist June Leaf, in the 1970s and the years of experimental filmmaking that followed. Sadly, the book includes none of Frank's pictures, but in their place, Smith offers meaty, evocative descriptions. These, along with excerpts of conversations with the photographer's friends and colleagues, allow Smith to deliver a multidimensional portrait of a man best known for depicting others.--Taft, Maggie Copyright 2017 Booklist

Master photographer and filmmaker. Iconoclast. An outsider who resolutely fled fame but earned it anyway. A man who barricades himself against those seeking to know him. That's Robert Frank, who in the mid-1950s took a road trip across the country, shooting some 27,000 photographs along the way. Eighty-three of them made their way into his iconic 1958 photo album, The Americans, which earned mixed reviews at first but grew steadily in stature. Today, this work is recognized as the classic it deserves to be, unusual at the time in its subject-an unhomogenized, unbeautified America-and approach-shots taken on the sly, no gloss. Frank didn't like the spotlight then, and at 92, doesn't like it now. Frank refused to meet with Smith (The One.James Brown) or allow reproduction of his prints or correspondence. Fortunately, Smith, a singularly talented writer, persevered. The result is an absorbing study of an enigmatic but engaging artist who still has much to say. VERDICT Cineastes and photographers, lovers of art or biography, and many others will devour this perceptive account of a great but elusive artist.-David Keymer, Cleveland © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.