1950s America proved fertile ground for photographers Robert Frank and Todd Webb, who both received Guggenheim Foundation grants to traverse the country in 1955 and record their respective visions. While Frank’s resulting book, The Americans, eventually made him a legend, Webb’s photographs remained unpublished, and were all but lost to history due to a 1970s-era business deal gone bad.
The saga of Webb’s unaccounted-for archive and its eventual recovery is one of the juicier tidbits from today’s show, which focuses on the long-awaited opportunity to compare, contrast, and rediscover Frank and Webb’s respective visions from their travels in the exhibition America and Other Myths.
Joining us in this discussion are Lisa Volpe, photography curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Bill Shapiro, former Life magazine editor-in-chief.
Journey back to the Nifty Fifties astride these two photographers as we examine how two distinct proposals to discover America at mid-century evolved along the open road and in the context of the era’s social tenure.
In the words of Lisa Volpe, “They both saw the same social ills playing out in American culture, they just talked about them differently.”
Above photograph © The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation
Guests: Lisa Volpe & Bill Shapiro
For more information on our guests and they gear they use, see:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/1950s-america-as-seen-by-robert-frank-todd-webb-with-lisa-volpe-bill-shapiro
Stay Connected:
America and Other Myths Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/robert-frank-todd-webb-across-america-1955
America and Other Myths exhibition catalog: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300270891/america-and-other-myths/
Robert Frank Archive at the MFAH: https://www.mfah.org/films/robert-frank-collection
June Leaf & Robert Frank Foundation Website: https://leaffrankfoundation.org/
Todd Webb Archive: https://www.toddwebbarchive.com/news-events
Blind Magazine articles by Bill Shapiro:
https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/on-the-road/
https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/youre-wrong-about-robert-frank/
https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/treasure-and-junk/
Robert Frank film footage from Blind Magazine: https://www.blind-magazine.com/stories/exclusive-never-before-seen-video-of-robert-frank/
Bill Shapiro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billshapiro/
Todd Webb in Africa episode on the B&H Photography Podcast: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/podcast-todd-webb-in-africa%E2%80%94rediscovered-color-photographs
Survive that Day - Freelance Photojournalism, with Adriane Ohanesian
Animal Photography -- Wild and with Respect
Milk Factory – A Mother's Day Chat with Corinne May Botz
Railroad Photography and the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike
Black and White and Blue—Underwater Fine Art Photography
Camera Clubs and the Coney Island School of Photography and Art
Car Photography, from Advertising to Motorsports
Commitment to Community-- Rhynna Santos, Michael Young, and the Bronx Documentary Center
Humor, Vulnerability, and Instagram - A Talk with Artists Mitra Saboury and Ben Zank
Sweepstakes, Resolutions, and Sony Portrait Photographers
It is What It is—Mark Mann on Portrait Photography
B&H Photography Podcast Facebook Group and SanDisk Sweepstakes Promo
Mick Rock: The Name Says It All
Memory Card Myths and Storage Solutions
New Gear Announcements - 2019
Finding Your Niche in Wedding Photography
Albert Watson at the 2019 Depth of Field Conference
The Life and Death and Life of LIFE Magazine
Conflict Photography – Motivation and Consequence
Industrial Photography and the Recovery of Flight 1549
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast
Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time
Learn to Paint Podcast
Gulliver’s Travels
The Art of War
For Flux Sake
Art Sense