The National Gallery of Art is currently exhibiting the works of Robert Frank. His photography series, "The Americans" is comprised of 83 photographs ranging from 1955 to 1956. Frank's works portray the grim side of life as he captures average Americans going about their day-to-day activities in their natural environments. Frank's subjects include ordinary people eating in a diner, to a woman gazing out a window, and people convened at a gas station.It has been said that Frank's intent with this series was to illustrate the angst, loneliness, and alienation of the average American life, and he succeeds. His photographs are haunting as his subjects depict ordinary people mired in their monotonous and lonely existences with a quiet desperation and wanting to get out of their circumstances (perhaps resonating with today's Americans and the many uncertainties we face today).
Quite powerful and a must see-- National Gallery of Art, January 18–April 26, 2009.
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