Tal Auf Tal Ab

Tal Auf Tal Ab is a 40-page book of recent photographs by Robert Frank, made in the two places he lived late in life, New York City and Mabou, Nova Scotia, with a few older pictures mixed in.

The title is Swiss German for “up the valley, down the valley.” Frank has said that he now lives, waits and thinks mostly in those two places. The newer pictures include newsstands, street scenes, friends, interiors, a self-portrait and his wife, June Leaf. Earlier work turns up among them, such as a candid portrait of Jack Kerouac. Steidl published the English-language book in May 2010 as boards and a slipcase, and printed it again in February 2018.

Frank (1924–2019) was born in Zurich and emigrated to the United States in 1947. He is best known for the book The Americans and the 1959 film Pull My Daisy. Steidl has published more than 30 of his books.