Documentary photographer Robert Frank has passed away at 94 years old. Frank’s seminal book of photographs, The Americans pioneered a new direction for the discipline as he depicted seemingly ordinary scenes of people from various classes. As Alex Greenberger writes for ArtNews, “Frank’s unsparing eye sought to portray things as they really were—unaestheticized, somewhat plain, more than a little dour. Yet, for all the bleakness …
The first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer prize winner for penning Beloved and a mentor to millions, among many other things, Toni Morrison lived unapologetically but with unmatched empathy, intelligence and insightfulness. She famously told Terry Gross (of NPR’s Fresh Air) that she “regret[s] everything” about her life. She explained in a 2015 interview, “Now that I’m 84, I remember everything …
Boundary-breaking French filmmaker Agnès Varda has passed away. Radical, feminist, experimental and spirited, her films explored taboo subjects and while they weren’t commercially successful, they remain powerfully influential and rich with wisdom. One of her earlier films, Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) explores existentialism, narcissism and pain through a decidedly feminine lens—Peter Bradshaw writes, the film “is news that stays news.” He continues, “Her …
