Various family S19
1950
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
contact sheet
Dimensions
overall: 21.9 x 27.8 cm (8 5/8 x 10 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Robert Frank Collection, Gift of Robert Frank
Accession Number
1990.28.1334
Art Historical Context
"**Various family S19** is a captivating contact sheet by Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank, in 1950 and now housed in the National of Art's Robert Frank. Measuring 21.9 x 27.8 cm, this gelatin silver print offers a rare glimpse into Frank's early working process in America, shortly after his arrival from Europe in 1947. As a contact sheet—a direct positive print made by exposing photographic paper under the negatives—it reveals multiple frames in a grid format, showcasing unfiltered snapshots likely centered on family life, as suggested by the title. Contact sheets like this one hold imme...
About the Artist
Robert Frank
Robert Frank (1924-2019) was a Swiss-American photographer and documentary filmmaker whose revolutionary approach to documentary photography fundamentally transformed the medium and influenced generations of artists. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 9, 1924, to a middle-class Jewish family, Frank began his photographic apprenticeship in 1941, working with commercial photographers before im...