There are a few myths surrounding Visual Studies Workshop. I remember their first space on Elton Street, but just barely. I clearly remember many shows in their sprawling University Avenue space. Our neighbor, Rick Hock, was director there for a while. It may have been during his tenure when we first saw Robert Franks shoes in a display case. We heard Frank donated the shoes he wore while shooting photos for “The Americans” and then we heard he had left them behind when he was chased out of the apartment he was staying in. Whatever the story I wasn’t prepared for their dandyness. They look like bowling shows.
Founded in 1969 by photographer, educator and curator Nathan Lyons, VSW was one of the earliest not-for-profit, artist-run spaces in the country. Through an affiliation with SUNY Brockport they offered MA and MFA accreditation until 2022. Today they have set up shop at 36 King Street in the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood with over a million photography and film-related objects, exhibition spaces and an auditorium.
Tara Merenda Nelson, chief curator at VSW, told us Frank spent some time in Rochester in the early seventies, just after working with the Rolling Stones. He used Super 8 movie stills from his Route 66 (The Americans) trip for the cover of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. Tara told us Frank refused to teach but instead dove right into projects with the students. The 16mm film “About Us” was made over a three month period in 1971-72. Each student shot a section of the film while re-interpreting the idea of the self portrait. Frank appears throughout as the group encounters security guards at Kodak Park, a gas station owner on Dewey Avenue, and some of the students parents. Just seeing Robert Frank frolicing at Cobbs Hill is a thrill. The film perfectly capturess what Frank calls “the chaos of the present.”
CLICK HERE to watch “About Us.”
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I love The Americans and Frank. I can relate to him the most out of all of the photographers of that era.