Leaving Home, Coming Home : A Portrait of Robert Frank

Synopsis

More than just America, Robert Frank is a life of experimentation, of travel, of sensitivity. American by adoption, he returns to his roots in Europe, his apprenticeship and his first photos. Guided by intuition, he gravitates towards the cinema in the early 1960s, won over by the Beat Generation and its poetry. He revisits his career highlights while strolling through New York, Coney Island, places that shaped his work. He also invites us to his studio where he works "on life” with June Leaf, his wife. His photos and his films show how much his life and his work draw upon the same material.

What you will learn in this film…

Robert Frank's New York • His iconic photos • Excerpts from his films • His life • His philosophy • His studio on Bleecker Street • His apprenticeship to a retoucher in Zurich • The flight to the USA in the 1930s • His beginnings at Harper’s Bazaar • A stroll in Coney Island 50 years after his photographs • Paris seen by Robert Frank • His archives • His take on London • His solo trip through the United States that was behind The Americans • His complicity with sculptor June Leaf, his wife • The influence of the Beat Generation in his filmography • His haven of peace in Nova Scotia • The importance of work in the lab to editing • His tour with the Rolling Stones • Robert Frank's roots

Keywords

Black and White Street photography Photographic instinct Social photography The artist inspiration Filmmaker photographers

Intuition is a very important part of my brain, a sort of speak off. I have never really had concepts. It was always following intuition before I really thought.

Robert Frank

Film chapters

summary 00:00 Starting out, Switzerland

summary 07:52 Europe

summary 16:09 Becoming American

summary 23:19 With June, working on life

summary 39:59 The Beat Generation and the films

summary 51:00 Pablo and Andrea

summary 01:14:51 The tour with the Rolling Stones

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