Robert Frank

I have two photography heroes. I say that Robert Frank is photography God. Philip Perkis is the most influential photographer who I am priveleged to have learned from. In my first semester at New York University, one of my favorite professors and now friend, Mark Jenkinson, said that when he was in photography school his cohort always talked about Robert Frank points. If a photograph had elements of a Frank photograph, it got Robert Frank points. I was taught that one image in a roll of 36 made it a successful role of film. When I saw a contact sheet of Frank's, it contained 6 iconic photographs.

The Americans is my bible of photography. I wrote papers of images images in his book. I photograph with Robert Frank points. I got to shake his hand twice and it felt like shaking the hand of just any man. I don't think he thought he was a photography god. He was a curious man. He was someone who walked around and made images, then films, the most beautiful documentary that was ever sued to not be released. If you are reading this and have never seen the Americans, you should just buy a copy and view the epitome of photography.

I remember writing a paper about this image at NYU. It isn't my favorite image, but it gives the detached feeling of the observer and not the participant, which I have always felt like in my work (with the exception of self portraits).