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indecisive,nomoreimportantthananyother.HereFrankwasmarking
outaproblemthathassincebecomecentraltocontemporaryphotogra-
phers:howtodepicttheencroachingbanalityofmodernlife–abanality
oftimeasmuchasthings–whileneithersuccumbingtoitnortrans-
formingitintosomethingelse.Frankofferednoanswers,butsetoutthe
problemforotherstoexplore.Hisimageswereinformedbythedynamics
ofcinema,andcertainlytheyoftenresemblethejitterinessofhand-held
movieframes.Butinretrospectwecanseethatitwastheemergenceof
television,perhapsmorethancinema,thatdislodgedphotographyfrom
thecentreofAmericanimageculturejustenoughtogiveitsomecritical
distanceandcounter-culturalweight.Televisionintroducedafarless
selectivekindofviewingexperience,inwhichthescreenisinsertedinto
thefabricofdailylife.Thevisualdistractionoftheever-brighttube
shapedthedailyexperienceofimagesfarmorethantheraptattention
demandedbythegrandcinemascreen.Inthissensethesignificant
imagesinThe Americansarenotthecelebratedshotsofalienatedstreet
lifeorthesad-lookingjukeboxes,butthephotosoftelevisionsetsglowing
inthecornersofrooms.Theyforeshadowphotography’seclipseandits
relegationassocialdocumentinthefollowingdecades.Afewmonths
beforetheuspublicationofThe Americans(itappearedfirstinFrance),
FrankshotafeatureforEsquiremagazinetitled‘AHardLookattheNew
Hollywood’.^28 Amongthespreadsisaparticularlytellingjuxtaposition.
Oneimageisabehind-the-scenesshotofatvpresenter,hisfixedgrina
signofhisascendancy.Intheotherweseeabored-lookingticketseller
inanArtDecomoviehouse,asignofthedeclineincinema-going.^29
ThephotographicstyleofThe Americanshasmuchincommonwith
abookmademorethanadecadebeforebyoneofFrank’smentors,
AlexeyBrodovitch.AsartdirectoratHarper’s BazaarBrodovitchrefined
aclean,elegantstyleoflayoutbefittingtheaspirantconsumerismof
itsreadership.Butin 1945 hepublishedBallet,oneofthefirstattempts
tousemotionblur,unusualfocusing,errantexposureandwayward
darkroomprintinginanexpressivedocumentarybook.Danceand
theatrephotographyofthetimesoughtthepinnacleofthegesturein
pin-sharpfocus,butneitherthemomentsnorthephotographictech-
niqueare‘decisive’inBallet.Itistheboldnessofthelayoutthatholdsthe 75
