Children--Switzerland no number 1941 - 1945

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print entitled “Children--Switzerland no number” sometime in the mid-twentieth century. It presents a contact sheet showing nine individual portraits of children in postwar Switzerland. Frank presents the children as individuals from distinct social backgrounds. However, the children’s matching eye-level poses unify them, perhaps indicating a shared national identity. Frank was born in Switzerland but emigrated to the United States, so the image may represent his changing sense of belonging after leaving his birthplace. The image makes use of several historical precedents: the documentary tradition in photography, the rise of the child-study movement, and the use of photography in both sociological studies and in institutional records like school yearbooks. Further research into Swiss social policy could help to clarify the image’s relationship to its social context. Ultimately, as viewers, we must remember that Frank’s vision is only one interpretation of Switzerland’s national character.