I find the themes addressed in Robert Franks photography to be artistic, bleak and political. When watching the video on the exhibit at Stanford University’s Cantor Center and the photographs from The Americans as well as photos that didn’t make it into the book, I realized the ideas Frank had. Frank took a journey across the country to get an idea of what everyone in America was experiencing after World War II. He attempted to capture moments of people’s everyday lives. Although his photographs were bleak, they held very deep meaning. Many of them involved race and how people of different color lived amongst each other before the civil rights movement. There were also many political photos that showed people as a group holding up the American flag. The people were shown either cheering or listening to what must be a higher figure. I believe franks work is very artistic because he uses methods that are so simple but so in depth. All of his pictures leave people thinking, either wanting to know more or trying to figure out the situation. I find it very interesting that there are certain moments captured by Robert Frank are very questionable. In particular, the photograph with a dark skin women holding white infant. In the video, the curator explains that Frank couldn’t understand why a white woman can trust the black women to watch her child but wouldn’t sit next to her at a diner or on a bus. This question will always be relevant and will remain unanswered.
