© Frank Marshal from the series "On the road"

What about the places where you have grown up. Any memories?

Frank Marshal (FM): I was an Army brat, as was the term back then, so I moved around quite a lot. Born outside Paris and was an only child. We lived there for the first few years and then moved to San Fransisco. It was the 60’s and I was just a little kid. We lived there for about 5 years. I loved it. The music was great and it seemed we were always taking a road trip. But everything is bigger and more exciting when you’re a kid. I don’t think we had much money but my parents did a good job of providing. I can’t say I was an expensive kid, comic books, paperback books and something to draw on was all I wanted. Those were much different times. But riding around in the car looking out the back window and the road trips were my favorite. Not that I was aware of it at the time, but the landscape appeared as a Walker Evens photograph.

© Frank Marshal from the series "I See Nothing"

What about photography, when did you step into the visual world? How would you describe your approach to the medium? You write that “every picture tells a story." Can you comment on that?

FM: Many of your questions relate back to childhood. As I said, “something to draw on, and I was set.” How many artists got their start looking at comic books, I’m sure there are quite a few. Drawing and being exposed to art was something I enjoyed. My Mom would let me go to a museum and wander around all day. Cheap daycare I guess, again those were different times, and not to knock my Mom. I was grateful for it.

Andrew Wythe and Norman Rockwell were artists I admired as a child, still do, but my visual world started with them and grew from where.
As I got older, my interest in art continued and by the time I was a teenager, I was going to be an artist. I had decided. I would go out painting my landscapes and then I started taking a photo to paint by. Every now and then I would get a shot I liked so that peaked my interest in photography. I ended up going to Penn for photography and had the most amazing mentor, Ray K. Metzker. He taught me how to look at the light. One day I ran into Ray out on the streets of Philadelphia, and he said, “ever notice how different the light is from season to season?” It was as if a light bulb went off for me. I remember Ray and I at an opening which had some Eggleston photos in the show. I asked,
what’s with Eggleston, I don’t get it?” Ray said, “one day you’ll get it.” Ray, for some reason, took me under his wing, we would talk for hours about photography. Walker Evens and that era of photography became what I gravitated towards. It seemed if I was attracted to a photograph, it was shot with an 8x10 or some large format camera.

© Frank Marshal from the series "On the Road"

© Frank Marshal from the series "On the Road"

© Frank Marshal from the series 'I See You'

© Frank Marshal from the series "On the Road"

© Frank Marshal from the series "I See You"

How do you cope with fast interconnections and instant sharing? How this is affecting your practice?

FM: I’m old school when it comes to technology. Film rules!!!! I chose to shot with 4x5 or mostly now the 6x7. I can’t stand digital photography. It’s just my option But the iPhone is amazing. I love taking snappies with it and the quality now can be out of this world. At this point, it’s an old argument digital vs film. The one thing I never hear discussed in that conversation is this, every film camera is different and the look each camera gives you is different. It’s all about the relation of the lens to the film. That’s the beauty of film cameras and film.

Of course, now there is Instagram and Facebook and the myriad of online platforms to post photography to, you can find great work on these platforms and reach more people to see your work, all of which is great. But the overload of junk you find, the tiny screen to look at photos and the time suck of it all can be overwhelming. But I’m not saying anything we don’t already know. For the most part, I really enjoy Instagram, I’m exposed to photography I would have never seen.

Your series 'I see nothing' was shortlisted for Urbanautica Institute Awards 2020. On your statement you wrote «My photographs are a look at sadness. The small moments of the mundane which demand you stop and look carefully. Stories which unfold only when time is taken to read them.» Tell us more?

FM: Well that’s something which Karen Hill said about my work in an essay she wrote about the photographs. I think she did a fantastic piece of writing. The way I see my work and how it is seen by others is quite interesting. I was very flattered by her essay.

«Sorrow is deeply complicated. It can live inside you for a long time and it will fight you for attention, for your breath, your esteem and for your very being. It's an enduring struggle of all mankind, it makes us want to fight for what we want, for what we need despite it all, despite the overwhelming feeling to give up. And then again sometimes we do. Frank Marshal's photographs shine a sort of light onto this innate sense of flight, despite it all, this sense of sorrow and of giving up-his photographs are a subtle, palpable narrative that transcends the moment, becoming visceral and taking on new meaning. A photograph of two tall pine trees that seem to be barely holding on in front of a long ago closed motel with the most unwelcoming entryway, holds the viewer in it's gnarl of conflict - a photographic masterpiece showing how the past meets the present, meeting its inevitable end. Mostly devoid of people, Frank's landscapes describe for us a place and time that we might otherwise have passed by thinking little of it, but he stops us and beckons our eye to indulge in seeing the complexities of this nothingness he has place in our path. The crossroads and juxtapositions of small towns, of religion, of hope and hopelessness, and the icons and symbolism of an era gone by - without the usual crutch of nostalgia or politics, eliminating all of this noise from his photographs, they are at once sad and quiet.» 

© Frank Marshal from the series "On the Road"

What do you think about the concept of "American Dream"?- "I See Nothing" is also about the sense of a place. I mean it would be hard for me to recognize where we are but I can feel there's a common atmosphere... is that your America?

FM: Well the “American Dream” sorry to say, has become a myth. America has become so divided and broken. I try not to bring politics into my photographs. Basically, America is the haves and have not. A sense of place is where we all feel. Our place in the world, our place in society, our place at home. I attempt to show that in the photographs. Your question, “ I can feel there’s a common atmosphere… is that your America?” Keywords, “is that your America?” no. I can’t say I understand what America has become. There is the myth of America but the reality is quite different. For most of Americans, I would say life is a struggle. That is a common thing for most of us. Understanding what our world is about, I think is something we have in common. We all start off with childhood dreams and fantasies, some people make those dreams come true, most don’t. But making sense of our lives as we grow older is something quite difficult to figure out. Well, speaking for myself.

© Frank Marshal from the series "I See Nothing"

© Frank Marshal from the series "I See Nothing"

© Frank Marshal from the series "I See You"

I think I got off track there. America, I think has always portrayed itself throughout history as the “land of opportunity”, “the wild wild west”, “land of the free”, all larger than life ideas. America has done a great job at promotion. There is a mystic to all that. America has become a facade, like the Wizard Of Oz, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” The systems and institutions of America have been shown to be completely broken. 

There's a picture of a fire at a dinner which has been in the family for generations which will never be rebuilt. What do you think about the relationship between photography and memory?

FM: I really like this question. Isn’t a photograph by nature a memory? Photographs of our family history bring back memories of a long-ago time. A reflection of who we were and who we’ve become. Our perception of the moment is so fleeting that everything becomes a memory.
The photo of the dinner which has been destroyed by fire does heavily invokes the thought of memory, mostly for the family and all their memories throughout the years. The loyal customers and friends who came for the special of the day. My memory of the dinner was driving by it time and time again thinking, I wonder if the food is any good and what a beautiful spot it was.

© Frank Marshal from the series "I See Nothing" 

As memory relates to my photography, that 125th of a second freezes that scene forever. But I feel the image lives on with each viewer. It’s more like walking into the space more than a memory. When the film comes back from the lab, I of course have the memory of taking the picture and the experience of the place. I like to think that my photos exist constantly, for the most part never changing, just being ignored and driven by. The images, I hope demand attention to be looked at and then place your own story to them. But I don’t think my photos are about memory.

In "I see you" you get close to people, exercising empathy? Who are the people you met?

FM: I guess you can say there is a sense of empathy for the people I photograph. I want my subjects to be seen by the viewer and get a sense of who they are and get the respect they deserve. For the most part, the people I meet are just everyday folks just living their lives.

© Frank Marshal from the series 'I See You'

© Frank Marshal from the series 'I See Nothing'

© Frank Marshal from the series 'I See You'

© Frank Marshal from the series 'I See Nothing'

© Frank Marshal from the series 'I See You' 

Photography puts you often on the road. What are your favorite places? Are you rather trying to get lost or to find the right place? What are you looking for? Is there a trip that you particularly remember and why?

FM: Like I mentioned in my childhood, I love a road trip. It’s like a vacation to me. I’m lucky to be sent on editorial assignments that take me to all kinds of places. I really don’t have a favorite. It’s the back roads off of the highways which I like, doesn’t matter where. There have been times when I’ve gotten lost but everywhere can be the right place. It’s hard to say what I’m looking for, ”real life.” There was a trip to Texas which I enjoyed. Big wide open spaces, they say everything is big in Texas. It was. But the trip I really want to take, once we can move around safely, is to Southern California and out west Rt66. Dinosaur Park, Las Vegas, Area 51, and all the small towns all throughout the way. I love the American landscape.

© Frank Marshal from the series 'On the Road' 

What about books any interesting references, inspirations? I see some literary reverberations that refer to the road, to the American province, to certain cinematography.

FM: Stephen Shore, Alex Soth, and Joel Sternfeld are amazing to look at their work. Larry Sultan’s work I could look at all day. It was Walker Evans that sent me down the path I’m on. I have been collecting photography books for most of my life and get so much inspiration from them. Instagram can be a great inspiration, there are plenty of interesting photographers to see. The literary reverberations you refer to come from Karen Hill’s essay comparing my process to that of Robert Frank and the book, The Americans. 

Frank Marshal (website)