「Look at the Picture and Talk about the Painting」Robert Frank’s Rebellion and Breakthrough

Blurred, out of focus, and with a tilted horizon, when Robert Frank brought these elements that were regarded as “taboos” in traditional photography into his lens, this “outsider” of America with a Swiss accent redefined the rules of photography with his “Americans” series.

Frank’s subversion began with the disruption of technology and aesthetics. The traditional photography’s belief in clear focus, neat composition and precise exposure became the “perfect shackles” that needed to be broken by him. In 1955, he drove across the United States with a camera on his back and selected 83 “imperfect” images from 28,000 negatives. Blurred crowds on the street, asymmetrical picture divisions, and tilted horizons. These seemingly “mistaken” shots tore open the facade of America’s prosperity and exposed the loneliness, alienation and confusion hidden in the corners of the city to the world.

Technological disruption is merely an external means; the real “core” of his work lies in the innovation of concepts. The “non-decisive moment” he proposed is in direct opposition to Bresson’s “decisive moment”, pulling photography out of the cage of “objective documentation”. In Frank’s view, the value of a photograph does not lie in the reproduction of the event itself, but in conveying the photographer’s subjective feelings. The out-of-focus lens hides the confusion and unease of a foreigner, and the skewed composition reflects the imbalance of society. Every “flaw” criticized is his most genuine expression of this country.

Frank made photography a medium for individual thinking. Art is not about replicating perfection but expressing truth through perspective. When photographers no longer obsess over “shooting accurately” but pursue “shooting truly”, they are all responding to him: the essence of an image is not the lens pointing at the world, but the heart reflecting the world.

The tea for today is all gone. Next time, I’ll brew a fresh pot and enjoy art with you again.