Frame shop, Ventura Boulevard--Los Angeles 1956

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, Frame Shop, Ventura Boulevard--Los Angeles, sometime in the mid-twentieth century. The image shows a window display of framed portraits. Through an exploration of visual codes, Frank's photograph can be read as a commentary on American social values and the institutional forces that shape them. The family portraits speak to the cultural emphasis on domesticity and upward mobility during this period. By displaying these aspirations in a commercial setting, Frank implicates institutions like advertising and consumer culture in constructing and perpetuating societal norms. Frank’s work encourages us to investigate the social conditions that shape artistic production, and to question the role of art within broader cultural narratives. We can use photographs like this as historical sources. Research into the history of advertising, family values, and the American Dream in the mid-twentieth century could help us to understand Frank’s photograph and its critique of American society more fully.