Books by Lucy Gallun

Robert Frank: Trolley―New Orleans: MoMA One on One Series (Momo One on One)

by Lucy Gallun

An abiding image of American racial segregation from 1950s New Orleans
In the midst of an extended road trip across the United States, Robert Frank turned from bustling Canal Street, New Orleans, where crowds of people swarmed the sidewalks, pointed his camera lens at a passing trolley, and clicked the shutter. That single exposure produced a picture with enduring clarity: a row of windows framing the street car’s passengers―white passengers in the front, black passengers in the back.

Frank captured individual faces gazing from each rectangular frame, from the weary Black man in his work shirt to the young white girl just in front of him, her hand resting on the wooden sign that designated areas segregated by race. In 1958, he wrote: “With these photographs, I have attempted to show a cross-section of the American population. My effort was to express it simply and without confusion.” By the time The Americans was published in the United States in 1959, with this image now appearing on its front cover, New Orleans streetcars and buses had been desegregated through a 1958 court order. But Jim Crow was still in full swing, the 1960s Civil Rights struggles still ahead. An essay by MoMA curator Lucy Gallun conveys how this image reverberates in new contexts today.

Photography at MoMA: 1920 to 1960

by Quentin Bajac, Roxana Marcoci, Sarah Hermanson Meister, Lucy Gallun

An epic dive into modernist photography by the museum that helped shape its history
The history of photography has been told many times, but never before through the incomparable collection of photographs at The Museum of Modern Art. As the second volume in a set of three books that together present a new and comprehensive history of photography through works from MoMA’s collection, this publication charts the medium during the height of the modernist period, from 1920 to 1960.
Only one other volume--Looking at Photographs, published in 1973--highlights the photographic treasures of MoMA’s collection; neither Beaumont Newhall’s classic History of Photography nor John Szarkowski’s Photography Until Now used the Museum collection as a springboard to approach photography’s distinctive history. The Museum’s significant role in the development of this history, and in the construction of a canon that championed photography as an art form (but also eclipsed certain alternative or unfamiliar practices) requires a reconsidered history for the 21st century. This publication offers a fresh critical lens through which to appreciate works of exceptional significance, surprise and influence, encouraging creative new readings.
The book begins with an in-depth introduction followed by eight chapters of full-color plates, each introduced by a short essay. Masterworks by photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothea Lange, Man Ray and Aleksander Rodchenko appear alongside lesser-known gems, and diverse notions of modernism enrich classic interpretations, so that the beautiful fictions and messy realities of photography are complicated, refreshed and, above all, enjoyed.

Life Dances on Robert Frank in Dialogue

by Sarah Greenough, Lucy Gallun, Kaitlin Booher

An in-depth exploration of the last six decades of work from the iconic photographer and filmmaker, with a special focus on his ceaseless experimentation and artistic collaborations

This volume, published in conjunction with the artist's first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, provides new insights into the interdisciplinary and lesser-known aspects of Robert Frank's expansive career. The exhibition explores the six decades that followed his landmark photobook The Americans, a period in which Frank maintained an extraordinarily multifaceted practice characterized by perpetual experimentation across mediums and artistic and personal dialogues with other artists and with his communities. Coinciding with the centennial of his birth, this catalog takes its name from the artist's poignant 1980 film, Life Dances On, in which Frank reflects on the individuals who have shaped his outlook.
The lushly illustrated publication features photographs, films, books and archival materials, layered with quotes from Frank on his influences and process. Three scholarly essays, excerpts from previously unpublished video footage and a rich visual chronology together explore Frank's ceaseless creative exploration and observation of life.
Robert Frank was a Swiss American photographer and filmmaker best known for his groundbreaking monograph The Americans (1958). Over his decades-long career, Frank captured the complexities of contemporary life with a distinct style and poetic insight. He lived between New York City and Nova Scotia, Canada.