Don't Blink: Robert Frank

Photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank rose to fame in 1958 with the publication of his revolutionary photo book . In this film portrait, Frank looks back with great humor and candor on his personal and professional experiences – two tightly interwoven strands in the life of this close friend to the poets and authors of the Beat Generation. Director Laura Israel has been Frank’s editor since the 1990s. She transports us all the way from his youth in Switzerland right up to the present day, taking time along the way to focus on his early years as a photographer in New York and his great journey across America. Working in an unpolished, collage style closely resembling Frank’s own, Israel draws on an abundant resource of photos and scenes from his films, accompanying them with commentary from Frank himself – about discovering what’s important in life, family tragedies, fate and memory. Good friends and old acquaintances add extra color to the tale. They include beat poet Alan Ginsberg, cameraman Ed Lachman, photographer Sid Kaplan (Frank's longtime darkroom man), and of course the artist June Leaf, Frank’s companion since 1971. But as Frank explains in an old interview, ultimately everything is to be found in the work itself. "Be curious,” he tells us.