Public ceremony--Casper, Wyoming 1956

This photograph, Public ceremony--Casper, Wyoming, was captured by Robert Frank, a master of seeing the world anew through the lens. Frank captures the scene of a public event; all the chairs are set up and waiting. But this isn’t a picture *of* a ceremony so much as a picture of anticipation—or even *after* the event. A kid in a striped t-shirt is perched, as if in waiting. He mirrors the rows of chairs behind. He’s not quite part of the spectacle, and his expression is knowing, as if the whole thing is a bit of a sham. Robert Frank was an outsider himself, and you can see in his framing, his way of cropping and choosing a subject, how he sympathizes with those on the margins. The American flag sits discarded on a chair like it’s a dirty dish cloth. It all feels a little bit sad, and like something is slightly off. Frank's photographs are a critical reflection of post-war American society. He captured something about a society that was both beautiful and deeply flawed. It's a perspective that still resonates today.