tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028121922441637074.post2094105738850725332..comments2023-11-03T03:23:32.969-07:00Comments on Bint photoBooks on INTernet: Is Robert Frank's 'The Americans' the Best photobook? PhotographyBint photoBooks on INTernethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02860952910982557153noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028121922441637074.post-34147591067576873052009-03-16T09:31:00.000-07:002009-03-16T09:31:00.000-07:00Congratulations on a well reasoned argument. If I ...Congratulations on a well reasoned argument. If I had to choose between Frank and Klein, I'd go for Frank every time. Frank is an observer and recorder while Klein is a participant and provocateur. Klein photographs dramas of his own making, his own interventions are critical. Frank employs intense powers of observation to record what others would never see. What would Walker Evans have said? Evans assisted Frank with his Guggenheim application - I don't think he'd have been impressed by Klein's bombast and rhetoric.Phil Beardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03075686435889440881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028121922441637074.post-75662806355370742142009-03-16T03:42:00.000-07:002009-03-16T03:42:00.000-07:00I think it is difficult to choose a best of someth...I think it is difficult to choose a best of something, and even more for a photo book. I unfortunately never had in my hands "sweet life" so can't say anything about it. But for me the biggest difference between "the decisive moment", "New York" and "The Americans" is that the later has a "political" approach and destabilize the viewer by the point of view and the ideas more than just the photography. So I do not think comparing power of photographs is a good way to do it as we are talking about a book so it's a group of pictures. (We have in the case of Eugene Smith to say, as great photographer he was, that his pictures are often set up ("Tomoko in the bath" was)and so not comparable to Frank's pictures)<BR/><BR/>Surely "New York" has a much greater graphical impact, and sure "the decisive moment" gave birth to a long lasting perception of photography and have a beautiful poetic vision, but "the Americans" shacked the American Way of life...<BR/><BR/>Which one of the 3 is best? I'll not take the responsibility to respond to that question.giodbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05515843069713980833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5028121922441637074.post-26852047659270392812009-03-16T03:41:00.000-07:002009-03-16T03:41:00.000-07:00I think it is difficult to choose a best of someth...I think it is difficult to choose a best of something, and even more for a photo book. I unfortunately never had in my hands "sweet life" so can't say anything about it. But for me the biggest difference between "the decisive moment", "New York" and "The Americans" is that the later has a "political" approach and destabilize the viewer by the point of view and the ideas more than just the photography. So I do not think comparing power of photographs is a good way to do it as we are talking about a book so it's a group of pictures. (We have in the case of Eugene Smith to say, as great photographer he was, that his pictures are often set up ("Tomoko in the bath" was)and so not comparable to Frank's pictures)<BR/><BR/>Surely "New York" has a much greater graphical impact, and sure "the decisive moment" gave birth to a long lasting perception of photography and have a beautiful poetic vision, but "the Americans" shacked the American Way of life...<BR/><BR/>Which one of the 3 is best? I'll not take the responsibility to respond to that question.giodbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05515843069713980833noreply@blogger.com