robert frank
ROBERT FRANK "MABOU PORTFOLIO"
Robert Frank (1924–2019) was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th-century. Best known for his landmark book The Americans (1958), Frank transformed documentary photography through his candid, deeply personal approach to image-making. Throughout his career, he continually pushed the boundaries of the medium, incorporating film, collage, text, and autobiography into his work.
The Mabou Portfolio emerged after Frank and his wife, artist June Leaf, established a second home in Mabou, Nova Scotia, in 1970. The region's rugged landscape and quiet isolation inspired a more introspective body of work, shifting his focus away from the bustling street scenes that had defined his earlier career. The photographs and collages that followed this move became more intimate and reflective, drawing inspiration from family life, memory, and the rhythms of the natural world.
Central to this body of work was Frank's use of the Lure camera, a simple disposable camera that produced colour snapshots with an immediacy and informality well suited to his evolving artistic concerns. Over several years, Frank used these photographs to construct a series of collages that challenged the static nature of the photographic image. Pictures overlap, shift, and accumulate across the page, often accompanied by handwritten notes, found documents, and personal inscriptions. The resulting works function as visual diaries, collapsing distinctions between photography, memoir, and assemblage.
Originally exhibited at the National Film Board of Canada Gallery in Ottawa in 1978 and subsequently acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, these collages formed the basis for the Mabou Portfolio, produced in 1980. Intimate and experimental, the portfolio reflects Frank's enduring interest in memory, place, and the possibilities of photography beyond the single image.
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"Lure Camera Portfolio, Mabou, Nova Scotia"
Canada, 1980
Suite of six photo lithographs in colors on wove paper, with full margins
Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil (each sheet)
Edition: 23/70
Various sizes. Largest 39"H 22"W (sheet). Each work is framed with museum glass. Detailed information on request.
Very good condition.
Additional images are available.
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