Die Reportage (Reportage) 1-12 1944 - 1946

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, Die Reportage, which translates to ‘The Reportage’, by arranging twelve photographs on a single sheet. It’s like a storyboard, where each image is a frame, revealing a bigger story if you spend time piecing it together. The grainy black and white tonality gives the piece a documentary feel, a stark realism. Each photo feels like a candid glimpse of a specific moment, but when seen together, they are elevated above a direct representation of the world. I’m drawn to how Frank juxtaposes images of public space with private moments. In one frame we see telephone booths and billboards, objects of mass communication, and in another two boxers in an intimate embrace. By combining these two worlds Frank makes us question the function of art, and how we make meaning from fleeting moments. You could say Die Reportage reminds me of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who also used photography to document urban environments, albeit with a cooler, more distanced perspective. But Frank’s work is looser, more emotional. His work has more in common with the snapshot aesthetic of artists such as Nan Goldin or Nobuyoshi Araki. All of these artists embrace the idea that art can be a form of personal expression, not just a mirror reflecting the world around us.