Cemetery--San Francisco 1956

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, Cemetery--San Francisco, sometime in the mid-20th century. It shows two tombstones in a grassy graveyard, one with Chinese script, under a sky heavy with fog. This image, made during a period of intense immigration to the United States, prompts questions about the place of minority cultures within the American social landscape. Frank made a name for himself by photographing overlooked or marginalized communities, and his choice of subject matter often challenges dominant narratives of American identity. The heavy fog and unkempt grass might symbolize the challenges and uncertainties faced by immigrant communities as they navigate a new culture, and their struggle to maintain their cultural identity in a new land. To better understand the full picture of this work, you might explore immigration patterns in mid-century America, or the history of Chinese communities in San Francisco. You can then think about the meaning of this photograph in relation to wider socio-political issues of the time.