In 1955, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank…

traveled across the United states, shooting a quintessentially American social landscape from an outsider’s perspective.  Made possible by a Guggenheim foundation fellowship, this now-iconic road trip yielded over 28,000 negatives from which Frank chose eighty-three images for his pivotal book, The Americans.  First published in France, The Americans countered the image of 1950s optimism, revealing the hidden face of poverty, racism, and consumerism.  Frank’s signature style—improvisational and probing—has had a lasting impact on photography. Drawn from a limited edition portfolio, the works in this exhibition present images of Frank’s unedited contact sheets, complete with his notations.  They provide a glimpse of the artist’s mind at work during the realization of this monumental project.

Presented as part of Lehigh Valley Photography Month, November 2016.

Selected works from the exhibition: