Robert Frank captured everything about the American society, the good and the bad. He didn’t sugar coat anything, or try to hide the bad representation of America. To Robert Frank, he wasn’t necessarily making art for the people. He was just expressing his thoughts, and sharing what he thought about the country from an outsider’s point of view. He addressed themes and problems that the American people were afraid to tackle head on. In many of his photos, the issue of slavery always makes an appearance. The cover of his book as we saw in class, is a picture of a bus in which the seating sections are segregated by the race white or black. Another very interesting theme that he confronts is that Americans really aren’t interested in their everyday jobs. They seem bored, frustrated, and just waiting for their shift to end so that they can go home. At a time where the U.S was the propaganda for life opportunities, the land of free, where you can own big beautiful houses and drive around in the latest cars and live your luxurious life. That doesn’t seem to be the case as it is seen through Frank’s perspective. Which I found very interesting, he shows America how it was, no propaganda , patriotism or nationalism involved behind the photography process at all.
