[aslyfox]

]from the NYT

Robert Frank, Pivotal Figure in Documentary Photography, Is Dead at 94
Mr. Frank’s visually raw and personally expressive style made him one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century

.

Robert Frank, Pivotal Figure in Documentary Photography, Is Dead at 94 - The New York Times

[Geodude]

Yes, I had just read about him, although the Times article was more in depth...

Robert Frank: Influential Swiss-American photographer dies at 94 - BBC News

Also, Peter Lindbergh passed away, too.

Peter Lindbergh: Fashion photographer dies at 74 - BBC News

[baro-nite]

Well, while we're doing obituaries, here's another from the NY Times, for Neil Motanus:

Neil Montanus, a Kodak Colorama Photographer, Dies at 92 - The New York Times

I hadn't heard of Montanus, or the Kodak Colorama, before reading this. They struck me as almost perfectly complementary to Frank's The Americans; diametrically opposed views of mid-century America, with photographic techniques to match.

[RobA_Oz]

A copy of Frank’s “The Americans” should be on every street or documentary photographer’s bookshelf. I don’t consider myself anything of either, but it’s on mine, along with many other such books.

[robgski]

Neil Motanus

Thanks for linking to that obit, incredible work!

[baro-nite]

Strange week; here's another one:

Noted Vancouver photographer Fred Herzog dies at age 88 | Vancouver Sun

[yucatanPentax]

Robert Frank undertook two years traveling and photographing across America. Out of 28,000 photographs, he selected, edited, and cropped 83.

To me, the comparison of those numbers and timeframe is just amazing. 83.

[baro-nite]

To me, the comparison of those numbers and timeframe is just amazing. 83.

Amazing in more ways than one. The Americans was and continues to be hugely influential. How many of his would-be followers are willing to put in a similar amount of work for a single project? And is it any wonder he went on to other things? That kind of obsessive focus is bound to be impossible to maintain. How many photographers attempted something of a similar scope only to burn out, get rejected by a publisher, or otherwise fail to see the project to fruition. (Think of Eugene Smith's Pittsburg project.)

[bdery]

Robert Frank undertook two years traveling and photographing across America. Out of 28,000 photographs, he selected, edited, and cropped 83.

To me, the comparison of those numbers and timeframe is just amazing. 83.

Being your own worst critic, and culling your catalog, taken to the extreme.

That being said, it doesn't mean he completely discarded all the images he did not select at first.

[PDL]

Well, while we're doing obituaries, here's another from the NY Times, for Neil Motanus:

Neil Montanus, a Kodak Colorama Photographer, Dies at 92 - The New York Times

I hadn't heard of Montanus, or the Kodak Colorama, before reading this. They struck me as almost perfectly complementary to Frank's The Americans; diametrically opposed views of mid-century America, with photographic techniques to match.

Ernst Haas was also a photographer that displayed images at the Kodak Colorama. When Kodak was still alive, they had an article on how film had advanced over the years using the Colorama as an example. The photographers started out with Large Format images (if I remember correctly Ansel Adams was a contributor) and progressed to using 35mm transparencies, one of which was by Ernst Haas using Kodachrome to shoot antelope in Africa.

There have been a plethora of old guard photographers who have gone to the great reward over the last few months. It is sad to see my childhood/early adulthood photo hero's slowly disappear.