Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank is one of the most influential photographers of the mid-20th century; he was noted for ironic renderings of American life.
Frank became a professional industrial photographer at the age of 22 and in the 1940s became a successful fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar magazine in Paris. He felt, however, that the scope of the work was too limited. He abandoned fashion photography about 1948 and went to the United States and then to Peru to explore the expressive possibilities of the 35-mm camera.
After photographing in Europe in 1950 and 1953, Frank returned to the United States. There in 1955 and 1956 he made a series of photographs ultimately published as The Americans (1959), a photographic book which showed a different America than the wholesome, nonconfrontational photo essays offered in some popular magazines.
Frank’s subjects weren’t necessarily living the American dream of the 1950s: They were factory workers in Detroit, transvestites in New York, black passengers on a segregated trolley in New Orleans.
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| Coffee Shop, Railway Station |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Assembly Plant, Ford, Detroit |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Bar, Las Vegas |
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| Belle Isle, Detroit |
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| Canal Street, New Orleans |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Candy Store, New York City |
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| Casino, Elko, Nevada |
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| Charity Ball, New York City |
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| Charleston, South Carolina |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Chattanooga, Tennessee |
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| Chicago |
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| City Hall, Reno, Nevada |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Club Car |
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| Courthouse Square, Elizabethville, North Carolina |
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| Detroit |
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| Drugstore, Detroit |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Elevator, Miami Beach |
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| Funeral, St. Helena, South Carolina |
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| Georgetown, South Carolina |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Hotel Lobby, Miami Beach |
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| Iowa |
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| Los Angeles |
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| Men’s Room, Railway Station, Memphis |
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| Motorama, Los Angeles |
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| Movie Premiere, Hollywood |
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| Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey |
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| Picnic Ground, Glendale, California |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Political Rally, Chicago |
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| Public Park, Michigan |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Ranch Market, Hollywood |
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| Rodeo, Detroit |
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| Rooming House, Bunker Hill, Los Angeles |
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| Savannah, Georgia |
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| St. Francis, Gas Station and City Hall, Los Angeles |
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| St. Petersburg, Florida |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| Trolley, New Orleans |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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| U.S. 285, New Mexico |
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| Public Park, Cleveland, Ohio |
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| Rodeo, New York City |
Amazing Black and White Photographs That Capture a Different America During the 1950s
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