Portfolio: 40 Photos, 1941/1946

When Robert Frank immigrated to New York from Zurich in 1947, the aspiring young photographer brought along hisportfolio of 40 photos to help him secure employment. Portfolio is the facsimile version of this fascinating object.Containing Frank¿s earliest original photographs as well as the work of other photographers which he had retouched,the portfolio presents images of rural life in Switzerland and alpine landscapes, alongside cityscapes and still lifes.Portfolio contains the seeds of a career of such scope and influence even the ambitious 23-year-old Robert Frankcould not have anticipated. Robert Frank was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1924 and went to the United States in 1947. He is best known for his seminal book The Americans (1958), which gave rise to a distinct new art form in the photo-book, and his experimental film Pull My Daisy (1959) both reproduced by Steidl within The Robert Frank Project. This is an ambitious long term publishing programme which encompasses Robert Frank¿s complete oeuvre ¿ reprints of his classic books, reprints of some less well known small books, the publication of previously unseen projects, newlyconceived bookworks, and his Complete Film Works in specially designed collector¿s DVD sets.