Robert Frank is a Swiss born photographer that is best known for the body of work titled "The Americans". The work is a photographic journey across the USA. When the book was published in 1956 it received criticism from mostly Americans. The reason being was that the photographs shown examples of segregation, Americans following orders and conforming. The reason why this may have caused controversy even though it is all part of American society is because of the notion that the work was created through the eyes of a visitor to the USA. Frank saw America with fresh eyes, eyes that were not accustom to the culture of America.
The photographs alone are not always the strongest images from a formal photographic perspective but what is important is the way they work as the series presented in the book and how they comment on American society.
Below are examples from this work, credit to Robert Frank:
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