5 Series

5 Series Morgan Bailey  The Americans

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Robert Frank began the photobook trend by stringing together photos in a book that have obvious and subtle meaning being placed together in these series.

Text did not play a large role in this book, Frank gave only the the location of the photographs were taken and nothing more on the blank left page while the photos remained on the right. In this series I am obviously calling the “Tree� series he strings together 5 photos that are all quite obviously related by the importance of the trees in all 5 photos. While the trees connect all 5 there are also other things bringing these photos together. The people photographed in all 5 are all quite different, ranging in age, race, gender, and amount. When looking through this section I could only think about even with difference between classes and people yet how in these photos trees still play a large part in their lives whether its for pleasure, shade, or comfort.

The Americans

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This series from The Americans deals with cars and the people inside them. The story unfolds with African American youth riding care free in a convertible only to be show the exact opposite the next page with two elderly Caucasians looking intensely ahead of them. The next photo of “Christ died for your sins� on the back of a car plays off of the conservative nature portrayed in the previous photo.

The next photo implies the sins that Christ did die for. Young couples lounging with not much clothing on and in provocative poses. All four of these images tell the story of America having many different beliefs and cultures all still using the automobile to allow them to do the things they desire.

White Road

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Ivan Sigal in his book White Road traveled across western and central Asia taking photos of life in these parts. The black and white photography and very personal feel falls right in line with Robert Frank and his book The Americans. There is a very stank comparison between the books showing America in the mid 50’s and Asia in the late 2000’s. Frank’s book of 60 years ago still shows a nicer lifestyle and more positive vibe than Sigal’s book of modern age Asia. This sequence starts off with a shadow of a figure reaching out over a broken concrete slab. To me this reminds me of death coming to someone who is buried in a tomb. The next picture shows a women in what seams to be a hospital cot who is sick or about to die echoing what is shown in the first. The nurse appears in the third showing signs of age and wear. The fourth is a picture of hawks or birds of prey.

Circling vultures come to mind hovering above a lifeless corps. Then signs of hope come into view with death actually being a powerful looking man standing tall and raising his hand to the onlooker who is cleaning it. The last is the nurse tending to or “cleaning” the patient showing signs on life.

White Road

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This series from Sigal is fantastic for me. It starts off with a young woman clearly offering up alcohol in the form of a toast to celebrate something. After this lady comes a child looking slightly scared and unsure of his surroundings. He looks to be weary of the alcohol being shown in front of him. His scary surrounding are then shown to be a picture of a small boy holding a gun looking brave and fearless. This is showing the boy to stand up to what ever is making him look unsure. This photo tells him everything is going to be all right and he can fight for his life. The next three photos jump back to the alcohol and woman at a party. She has drank her drink and is looking to be quite content. This plays off of the timid and scared nature of the boy with a carefree and joyous woman. She has friends around her and her night seams that it will end just as the boys will, safe and protected.

A Living Man Declared Dead And Other Chapters

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Taryn Simon, in her book A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters, does almost nothing similar to Frank or Sigal. Her book is laid out almost as a scrapbook or a family photo album. Text is quite important here introducing each section about the family’s connection to a single person in history. She also describes what happened to family members missing from the album. This is a typical sequence from her book. She states that this bloodline descends from one of Hitler’s aids. Next she shows the bloodline and all those missing. They are all put in front of the same beige yellow background and look neutral or even displeases that this photo is taking place. The next page shows family heirlooms or things they have in their possession. These can be photos, letters, art, etc…

The final photo in this series shows two people who refused to be part of the project. She keeps every space of the bloodline shown but blanks for those who chose not to participate. Her pages don’t take much thinking so see the connection between them because they are already put in a standard layout.