Hold Still, Keep Going is thelong-awaited reprint of the catalogue to Robert Frank’s (born 1924) 2001exhibition at the Museum Folkwang in Essen. Though the artist is bestknown for his seminal photobook The Americans (1959) and his experimental film Pull My Daisy(1959), until this publication, little scholarship existed on theintersection between Frank’s work in the disciplines of photography andfilm.
Hold Still, Keep Going fills that void, exploring theinfluence of film on Frank’s photographic work, and the interactionbetween the still and moving image that has engaged the photographer andexperimental filmmaker since the late 1950s. The book adopts anon-chronological approach, including photographs, film stills, 35mmfilmstrips, as well as photomontages that present Frank’s most famousseries alongside less known work; from these varied contents, the volumeoffers revealing juxtapositions, rendering the seemingly disjointed arcof Frank’s art more cohesive. Text, from handwritten phrases onphotographs (of which “HOLD STILL—keep going” is but one example) to thedialogue in his films, emerges as a crucial tool, one that is alsocentral to Frank’s photo-diaries.
Including a new essay from TobiaBezzola, director of the Museum Folkwang, this edition highlights someof the more obscure work by perhaps the world’s best-known livingphotographer, and is an essential addition to all photography and filmcollections.
