Analytical Texts

Essay: The Elegiac Genius of Robert Frank, published Thursday Nov 14th, 2024

Text by Ocean Vuong. This essay being contained within the book Robert Frank Hope Makes Visions by Pace Publishing in 2024. Paperback.

I both studied the book itself with its beautiful composition along with the insightful essay by Ocean Vuong.

Vuong details how Frank arrived in America from Switzerland in 1947 at a time of considerable challenges. He found himself immersed in the search for new intellectual and artistic freedoms. This was the era of the Beat poets, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Jack Kerouac. This also coincided with the creation of “Yugen” a small literary magazine. This being the name of one of the six Japanese aesthetic terms which roughly translate to a quality of dark, oblique fogginess which draws the viewer deeper into its subject. “Applied both visually and psychically , yugen manifests most notably in Japanese ink paintings, wherein deft, minimal brushstrokes suggest a landscape rather than depict it.” This being consistent with Frank’s practice of the “ grainy faces from his early frames all the way through his more personal, familial work of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Reading the essay I was struck by Frank’s eclectic body of lesser known work and a practice which is often akin to sculpture, performance, documentary ,and poetry. It served as a reminder of the importance at expanding my practice and to be free to experiment with other mediums.

Vuong refers to a work of which I was not aware. In “Memory of Destruction”(1991) in which a city block in Beirut is shown after what appears to be a bombing, words are etched into the silver print using jagged script depicting, in photojournalist detail, what is not in the image: “A foot is resting on a pile of rocks. A hand plays an old game with stones…A torn frame from the shadow of a movie palace”. The effect is reminiscent of twelfth century Chinese ink paintings, wherein calligraphy is applied to the landscapes negative space. If the definition of photography is to “draw with light” , Frank uses photographs to paint with paper.”

Following the tragic death of his daughter Frank began to write and paint on his images, often scratching into the surface and creating a multi layered print. This then creates a challenge as to the integrity and purpose of photography which I gave further thought to. In my own practice I have often drawn, coloured and painted over images.

At the conclusion of the essay Vuong succinctly encapsulates Franks practice: “…a man filled with delight for the human world. One gets the sense that, above all else, Frank roots for people, which is to say his subject of obsession is humanity: what it can do and what it has done to itself”.

“And this twinning of joy and grief is no clearer than in a scene in “Don’t Blink(2015), a film on his life and work. Frank, while watching a clip of a street performer he had filmed decades earlier, laughs with childish glee at the human being in the frame. He then steps and turns away, the man known to many as cranky, if cordial,curmudgeon, suddenly sheepish, his eyes filled with tears. “It’s nice how film survives” he says. “It’s not the way photographs are. It’s still alive. A photograph is just a memory”. In this moment Frank observes the uniquely perennial power of the photograph: that it never completed itself. Unlike film, wherein the action is on a track of time, the photographic frame exists more like a line break in the lyric poem, that moment of pause and thought that occurs only after a rupture in linearity. It is a vexed and potential space, where possibility is both restricted and expanded at once, creating a centripetal pressure that belongs to all photographs and poems that haunt us”.

1. Lecture of Head of Painting Geraint Evans

This was an enthralling presentation with a number of references to the Swansea area and the decline/decay of architecture and industry in the area surrounding the copper industry in particular. There was a focus on regeneration which led me to further research the work of artist Anselm Kiefer and to view the excellent film: “Over your cities grass will grow”, a film of the work of Anselm Kiefer, directed by Sophie Fiennes, released in 2010 (DVD 2011 Artificial Eye, www.artificial-eye.com)

The exploration of the significance of heritage from a cultural perspective links in with my own practice as regarding the visual image and in particular photography as an anthropological study. This has been reinforced for me through my research and appreciation of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank.

I further communicated with Geraint post lecture and he very kindly forwarded me a link to his excellent “Ruin” which initially focuses on the Weaver & Co building in Swansea which was demolished in 1984 to make way for a Sainsbury’s superstore. This had been an iconic, and ever present part of the city.

The poet Dylan Thomas’ “Return Journey “ is referenced to very good effect; this being a radio broadcast in 1947 and where the narrator walks through Swansea seeking his younger selves following what is referred to in history as The Three Night Blitz which devastated Swansea from 19-21 February 1941. 230 people were killed, 409 injured and hundreds of buildings flattened. As the narrator takes a familiar route into the centre of Swansea from the train station personal history is bound in place; identity itself becomes unstable when such a traumatic event takes place. Beautifully written, poignant, sad and at times sad. My mother witnessed this devastation first hand and often spoke to me about it,

Geraint also refers to the works of artists, Ceri Richards, Paul Kelly and George Shaw, the latter being very familiar to me from an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery (Among the Trees”) in 2020 and a talk at Two Temple Place (Rainy Thursday Evening In”) earlier in 2025.

The film “What have you done today, Mervyn Day” a documentary directed by Paul Kelly and released in 2005 is referenced during the “Ruin” presentation by Geraint and which I then watched as part of the trilogy completed by the group St Etienne and Kelly. This is a beautifully made documentary with a poetic tone as residents from the Hackney Wick area are interviewed about their love of their home. Similar to the journey made by Dylan Thomas on his return to the Swansea area there is a real sense of history and loss. The area was the focus of regeneration or gentrification with the London Olympics of 2012 and has now changed beyond recognition.

2. Lecture of Head of Computational Arts Max Dovey

A very interesting presentation which focused on artistic performance within the community under Performance and Liveness studies and Live Action Play.The project “The Treaty of Finsbury Park” and its impact were explored along with some scientific studies relating to similar community projects. The work of artist Jeremy Deller was discussed with particular reference to the “The Battle of Orgreave” (released 2001 via ArtAngel) which was a re enactment of a very significant event during the Miners Strike of 1984 -85. This re enactment involved in the main participants from both striking miners and officers who had been there on the day itself, along with current residents and a number of professional actors. Those involved were interviewed in relation to their recollections from the day. During the reenactment many were asked to undertake a role reversal which was also revealing. For many it was a cathartic experience and the first opportunity of properly revisiting the events. This has formed part of my own research relevant to the Miners Strike and the political climate of the time under the Thatcher government. Post lecture I further communicated with Max exchanging my own thoughts and research in relation to the subject and its presentation. Role play is something I have undertaken as an educator within the prison and young offenders institutions. This genre has also been used to very good effect in Wales not only over recent years with the Michael Sheen Port Talbot Passion play “Crucifixion” but also during the filming of “The Silent Village” set in Cwmgiedd, southwest Wales in a powerful drama-doc created by Humphrey Jennings in 1942.

Https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-silent-village-1943-online

Https:www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-13176102

3. Visit to the exhibition of “Lives Less Ordinary” at Two Temple Place, London

A very enjoyable exhibition and which introduced me to a number of new artists/photographers. This was very much a celebration of working class life by artists from a working class background. The imagery was from the n1950s to the present day. There was a clear sense of integrity, resilience and pride in the subject matter. Artists who I was particularly struck by being : Corbin Shaw, Izabela Jedrzejczyk, and Chris Killip who I researched further having direct bearing on my own practice and current proposal.

Corbin Shaw’s work focuses on the theme of personal and national identity and he does so through a multi media practice, and in so doing ensures that he captures the imagination of a broad spectrum of society. His work is similar to that of Banksy in my view, being relevant, challenging and often sensitive and humorous. His work with schools projects and workshops has also elevated the awareness and creativity of young people in dealing with issues of masculinity and identity. At the conclusion of the course I hope to return to delivering workshops within the prison establishment in a similar way and have volunteered with the Koestler organisation which does some excellent work in this field.

Izabela Jędrzejczyk’s work and the Amber collection: the books “Striking Women” and The Jungle Portraits” are charged with integrity and a sense of community which I try to bring to my own work.

In 1989 Photographer Chris Killip was commissioned by Pirelli to work on a series of photographs at their tyre factory in Burton On Trent. The resultant photographs transcend the documentation of the daily lives of people and become something far more in bridging the gap between documentary photography and the metaphor. By taking a series of photographs over a period of months at the engineering works in Swansea I hope to achieve a similar sense of pride in capturing the dignity of those working there. This exhibition and the research thereafter into the above named along with the work of Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Frank and Colin Jones in particular showed me the powerful nature of the language of imagery and during which I was often deeply moved.