Robert Frank's The Americans Exhibition

Last Saturday on October 24, I got a chance to visit the Met and check out Robert Frank's Americans Exhibition. I thought that some of the photographs that were displayed in the exhibit were interesting and well diverse. Each image whether it was the people, location, subject matter or even the perspective, each image was different from the next. To me I found that the diversity within each photograph was appealing because when looking at each image it gave the viewer a different feel and experience that they probably did not have with the previous pieces. It was the capturing of peoples actions during the different moments in time that made this exhibit interesting. Walking into the exhibit and looking at each photograph was like walking through the scenes of a movie. Each photograph was like a still motion picture as well as a narration that either was abstract and had many possibilities as to what the image was about or the opposite that determined pretty much what the subject matter was about.

The photograph that was appealing to me was, U.S 285, New Mexico, produced 1955. I suppose the reason that I found this particular image interesting was because it was one of the few images that did not really have people or even a distinct location. Here one just sees the open road with a car from a distance. To me the sense of perspective when dealing with landscape like this image is rich and is shows the difference between time and space. The way in which the image of the road starts of wide at first and then later gets narrow and small to the point where it just vanishes to the end is great. By the photograph read a little caption that told the viewer a little something about the piece and the relevance it has on the photograph. One sentence read, “a long shot of night road arrowing forlorn into immensities and flat of impossible-to-believe American in New Mexico under the prisoner’s moon”. To me I think this quote is saying that the journey to salvation and freedom seems to be a long one, too long that it seems impossible to apprehend. One can either try, but the truth of the matter is that it is hopeless to feel free like an American when you are imprison in New Mexico.