Tal uf Tal Ab

“Tal Uf Tal Ab is Swiss-German. It means direction up the valley – down the valley. Now I live and wait and think mostly in the places I live – New York City and Mabou N.S.” Robert Frank Tal Uf Tal Ab shows Robert Frank’s life now, an inquisitive existence shaped by memory, and includes photographs of newsstands, streetscapes, friends, his wife June Leaf, interiors, as well as a self-portrait. Among these images are scattered earlier ones from Frank’s past, for example a candid portrait of Jack Kerouac. As with all Frank’s publications, Tal Uf Tal Ab is a humble yet important progression in the medium of the photo-book. Robert Frank was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1924 and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He is best known for his seminal book The Americans, first published in 1959, which gave rise to a distinct new form in the photo-book, and his experimental film Pull My Daisy, made in 1959. Frank’s other important projects include the books Black White and Things (1952), and Lines of My Hand (1972), as well as the film Cocksucker Blues (1972) for the Rolling Stones. He divides his time between New York City and Nova Scotia, Canada.