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He had awesome shoes and no socks and he wore the same pants for days on end.
Im famous, he joked to a friend a long time ago.
It may be that, as your doctor says, it isnt healthy to live your life angry.
But Frank lived to be 94, bum heart and all.
So be mad, and risk appearing corny, and dont wear socks.
Definitely dont be bored.
Its like a punch in the nose.
Confrontations got his juices flowing.
This white guy has entered their space and is taking something they were not offering.
A moment of submerged feeling dragged into the daylight.
Then he walked away, and nobody got punched.
On both sides, quiet reflection had become impossible.
Like that couple on the overlook, Robert Frank has pretty much always wished to go unobserved.
When approached, he has responded in a manner similar to the couple in hisSan Franciscophotograph or worse.
The documentarys maker answered a few questions, then everyone headed out.
I was sitting in a back row, the farthest corner from Frank and his wife, June Leaf.
Neither letters nor the interventions of friends over the previous years had stirred his interest or disinterest.
What he extended was a shrug, a neutral acknowledgment that declared any exchange was beyond reach.
I raced toward him.
By the time I made it upstairs they were gone.
Others return toThe Americansagain and again.
I was 24 when I first saw the book, Bruce Springsteen told an interviewer in 1995.
Ive always wished I could write songs the way he takes pictures.
I think Ive got half a dozen copies of that book stashed around the house.
He has influenced MTV videos and generations of photographers who werent even born whenThe Americanswas published.
Hes a pill and selfish and sometimes incredibly sad and one of the freest individuals I can think of.
As his friend Miles Forst once said, There is no peace in him.
Frank pushes people hard, testing their loyalty and weakness.
He cut out all but two or three images fromThe Americansand then sent it back.
The stubbornness was no fluke.
This was tough love or just tough.
Such actions, the editor decided, wiped away his fear of repeating himself and guaranteed uniqueness …
Without realizing it at first, we would be actors under Robert Franks direction.
That has been his experience, and he offers this understanding to others when he can.
Make plans with him at your peril.
Events change on the ground.
It seemed like another chance to make my case.
He walked past a cloud of photographers and video cameras and headed into Greenwich Village.
Frank was walking down the block by himself, cane in hand, motoring along.
I introduced myself, and he smiled.
Im writing a book about you, I said.
You are writing a book?
he said in his Swiss-German accent.
Say hello to the mountains!
Friends of his have said he sometimes gets confused, and his body is wearing out.
But Frank was charging down the street now, his shoulders powerful, his thoughts all in order.
He arrived at the van, and I shook his hand.
You caught him on a good day, Franks friend Jim Jarmusch would say later.
Excerpted fromAmerican Witness: The Art and Life of Robert Frankby RJ Smith.Copyright 2017.
Available from Da Capo Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
