Introduction Ivan Sigal, Taryn Simon, and Robert Frank each exhibit a photo journal documenting their journey through a place or time well worth documenting. Their experience allows the opportunity for viewers to create their own experience by following the narrative conceived by one or multiple images per page followed by another page of photographs. The amount of images and whether or not a description is available is up to the artist. The way they organize and present the images will create a message, a mood, an understanding and an experience for the viewer to take in. In breaking down Sigal’s White Road, Simon’s A Living Man Declared Dead and Frank’s The Americans I would like to pick on themes, styles and messages displayed by the three. By comparing and contrasting them hopefully I will find a common value that each photo book experience promotes.
Photo books document the activities and behavior of a people living within a society. A common theme I picked up on while observing the three books was the mood set by the individual’s in front of the camera.
Frank’s Picnic Ground-Glendale, CA found me in a state evaluating my own self-compared to the man sitting on the bench. While society’s youth are enjoying the grounds, the man appears to be past him prime and contemplating his previous and next step. He has turned his back on society for the moment to allow himself to ponder. Perhaps the trash cans are a symbol that he appears to have been thrown away or wasted while the trees promote the idea of growth. Society