Robert Frank Photography at Jeu de Paume

Review by Mary Nash

This contemporary art museum located in the northwest corner of the Tuileries Gardens has sought to promote photography of all formats (including film and video) and to break down the perceived boundaries between historical photography and modern art since May 2004. Named after the French precursor to tennis -- literally translated, "game of palm" -- the site originally housed tennis courts during the reign of Napoleon III.

Currently showing until March 22 is ‘Robert Frank, A Foreign Look’, which includes photographs from Robert Frank's seminal book "The Americans", published in 1958 and the first of its kind to bring Street Photography to the world stage, as well as photographs he took in Paris between 1949 and 1952. Frank who was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1924 to a wealthy Jewish family soon became interested in photography as a means of escapism from his otherwise mundane life. Between 1941 and 1946 he trained under various photographers before creating his own portfolio '40 Fotos', exploring the themes of everyday life through a series of landscape shots and street views which rejected a formal narrative. In 1947, having emigrated to the United States, Frank secured a job as a fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar but finding his creativity stunted by the constraints of editorial control, he soon gave up this post to continue travelling and working as a freelance photojournalist.

Detroit 1955 - Robert Frank

In the first part of this exhibition dated between 1949 and 1952, Frank offers a post-War glimpse of Paris which is a far cry from the romantic depictions of Old World Paris by the likes of Robert Doisneau. Frank's images are muted, heavy and use the street as the central theme. Frank shifts the focus from the street, often inanimate objects like a bunch of flowers tied to some railings and passers-by; focusing on the subject from various angles. The overall tone of the Paris series is intense: included is a photograph of a dead horse hanging in an abattoir yet despite this there is an ethereal quality to his images.

In the second part of the exhibition and one of Frank’s most prolific works, The Americans, featured here in its entirety, are the photographs he took for his first book funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship. Between April 1955 and June 1956 Frank took 28,000 photographs with a Leica camera of a country on the verge of change. During his road trips, sometimes accompanied by his wife and two children, Frank addressed the supposition of the American dream and presented the reality as was projected through his wide-angle lens. 84 photographs each illustrate the efforts of his labour, highlighting a never before seen slice of life that reflects a society as diverse as its landscape.

For anyone interested in documentary photography this really is one not to be missed; it is clear why Frank remains a leader in this field and his influence can still be felt today.

Jeu De Paume
1 Place de la Concorde, 8th
M° Concorde
Tel 01 47 03 12 50

www.jeudepaume.org

Hours
Tuesday: 12:00 - 21:00
Wednesday - Friday: 12:00 - 19:00
Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 - 19:00
Closed Monday

Admission: 7 €

Mary Nash hails from London where she worked as a freelance journalist for the ITV network. She came to Paris on the pretence of a 3-month sabbatical but has not returned home yet and instead set up her own company www.theinternationalassistant.com which helps relocate expatriates to Paris. Her favourite past time among other things is hanging out with her younger French boyfriend, ooh la la!