The Man Who Saw America

Nicholas Davidoff has a wonderful story on Robert Frank over at The New York Times – it is one of the best profiles of him I’ve read, diving deeply into the background of The Americans.

When it was published more than 60 years ago, it was a tough sell in this country – The Americans was a very critical look at who we were as a country, nearly a century after our own Civil War. The aesthetic was different from everything else out there at the time.

Loved this line:

People, (Robert) Frank says, “don’t like to be caught in private moments. I think private moments make the interesting picture.”

If The Americans isn’t in your library, go get it now.