Italy 2 1964

This is Robert Frank’s “Italy 2,” a black and white photograph printed at an unknown date. Frank was one of the great documentarians of the American social landscape in the 1950s, but here we see him turning his gaze on Italy, a country still recovering from the ravages of World War II. In this work, Frank offers us a contact sheet, the uncut roll of film, still bearing the marks of its origin. The effect is to democratize the image, to remind us of the material conditions of photography itself. What can we read in these fragmented images? There are men and women, old buildings, seascapes, and open fields. The overarching theme seems to be one of ordinary people, making their way through the landscapes of everyday life. As art historians, we can look more deeply, examining the place of photography within the broader history of art and modern culture. The role of institutions like museums, government archives, and private collections is vital to preserving cultural memory and understanding the role of art in society.