Peru: Photographs

The weathered faces and dusty roads of Peru, compiled and sequenced by the master of the American photoessay In March 1949, Robert Frank mailed a birthday gift to his mother in Switzerland: A maquette of a series of photographs he had made during a visit to Peru between June and December of the previous year. Frank assembled an identical book for himself, and these two maquettes now reside in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. A few of the images are well known in Franks oeuvre, but until now very few people have seen the entire serieswhich, in 1949, already displayed the hallmark of Franks distinctive imagesequencing. Peru also exhibits an ease and flexibility that Frank himself confirms: I was very free with the camera. I didnt think of what would be the correct thing to do; I did what I felt good doing. I was like an action painter. Using a handheld 35mm Leica camera, Frank documented the countrys massive vistas, weathered faces, manual labor and dusty roads stretching to the horizon with a spontaneity of motion that propels the viewer into the midst of the scenery. For the first time, and under the direction of Frank himself, this book presents the complete sequence of images. Peru is a work of major significance in both the artists history and the history of photography. Published in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington.