Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans provides an in-depth examination of Frank’s prescient book, first published in 1958, as a catalogue for the exhibition of the same title, which opened at the National Gallery of Art in January 2009 and will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is composed of four chronological sections, each of which includes several essays and a plate section. The expanded edition (hardcover) also includes a chronology, reproductions of the contact sheets for The Americans’ 83 works and archival materials. Conceived as a showcase for the well-known photography of Robert Frank, this catalogue’s design references the works’ original reproduction format while recognizing the limitations inherent in adapting them to this size and shape. 

A model monograph; will serve an exemplary book.

Five hundred and six pages devoted solely to the classic photography book—a huge undertaking. The designer presented the mounds of material exceptionally.

The sequencing allows the reader to experience Frank’s body of work in an almost cinematic manner.