From the Bus, New York 1958

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, titled "From the Bus, New York," sometime in the mid-20th century. Frank, a Swiss immigrant, gained notoriety in the US for his ability to capture ordinary Americans in ways that also felt deeply unsettling. In this image, we see a street performer, a man with a box and a small monkey, rendered in stark monochrome. What does it say about American society that this man must rely on a monkey to earn a living? What does it say about how we treat animals? Frank was interested in the margins of society. He took photos from the viewpoint of someone riding a bus. By looking at the entirety of Frank's project, "The Americans", and the socio-economic conditions of the time, we can begin to understand the artist's own perspective on postwar America. Art history is about uncovering these contexts.