Robert Frank, revolutionary American photographer, dies aged 94

Robert Frank, the American artist whose photographs captured the lives of everyday people and influenced a generation with his raw and evocative style, has died aged 94.

The Swiss-born photographer’s seminal book The Americans, which had an introduction from beat generation author Jack Kerouac, helped to change the direction of photography with its 83 pictures rejecting many conventions of the art form up to that point.

Shot on a Leica 35mm camera, the black-and-white images are considered his masterwork and focused on figures from the margins of American life – from teenage couples and factory workers to bikers. Dubbed the “Manet of the new photography” by the New Yorker critic Janet Malcolm, Frank was considered the father of “the snapshot aesthetic”, which capture a spontaneous moment taken on the fly.

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