Picturing America

Three people in 1950s New York

New York, by Robert Frank, negative 1955-56
Courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art

Robert Frank photograph of partially obscured people looking out of windows behind a large American flag

Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey, Robert Frank, negative 1955-56

Courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art

Given the current national crises, The Americans, the 1958 book by Robert Frank, is an especially timely document. The Swiss photographer captured a culture in transition: activists and opponents squaring off within a changing racial landscape, people more openly expressing themselves while challenging social norms. New York and Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey are among those on display in “Robert Frank: The Americans” at Andover’s Addison Gallery of American Art through April 11. In one sense, it took an outsider, the exhibit notes, to probe “the defining and enduring dualities of American life and culture—hope and despair, affluence and want, freedom and limitation, community and isolation.”

Click here for the January-February 2021 issue table of contents

Read more articles by Nell Porter-Brown

You might also like

Sister Acts and Cyanotypes

Julia Rooney’s paintings cross the analog-digital divide.

Pony Plunges

Scrapbooking a woman who rode horses into the sea

Rendering Dreams in Art

South Korean artist’s socially themed photographs at the Peabody Essex Museum

Most popular

Harvard, Government Present Arguments in Funding Case

Judge questions relationship between antisemitism charges and grant cancellations.

International Scholars and Students Targeted—Again

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces fresh investigation into Harvard’s participation in the Exchange Visitor Program.

The Risks of Low-Dose Radiation Exposure

Continuing fallout from the Manhattan Project

Explore More From Current Issue

Can an Orange a Day Stave off Depression?

A research study digs into the gut microbiome.

Harvard Commencement 2025

Harvard passes a test of its values, yet challenges loom.

Your Guide to Summer 2025 Along Boston Harbor

Enjoying Boston Harbor’s Renaissance this summer