Comments on: Robert Frank and American Stories http://blog.metmuseum.org/americanstories/2009/11/17/robert-frank-and-american-stories/ Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:54:48 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Henry Blaufox http://blog.metmuseum.org/americanstories/2009/11/17/robert-frank-and-american-stories/comment-page-1/#comment-101 Henry Blaufox Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:22:32 +0000 http://blog.metmuseum.org/americanstories/?p=636#comment-101 I visited the Frank exhibit the day after Christmas. The Museum and exhibit were quite crowded (as one would expect on a holiday weekend,) but the exhibit was reasonably accessible. I was struck by the difference between Frank's photos of New York City as compared to the rest of the country in "Americans." I came away wondering whether he loved (or at least liked) life in New York, but was ill at ease in the rest of the country. The photos of life outside the city, especially the south, seemed to focus on the now familiar social tensions that existed. The photos of New York seemed more pleasant. Could it be that this European immigrant and victim of World War II was comfortable in urban, and largely European, New York, but uncomfortable once across the Hudson? I visited the Frank exhibit the day after Christmas. The Museum and exhibit were quite crowded (as one would expect on a holiday weekend,) but the exhibit was reasonably accessible.

I was struck by the difference between Frank’s photos of New York City as compared to the rest of the country in “Americans.” I came away wondering whether he loved (or at least liked) life in New York, but was ill at ease in the rest of the country. The photos of life outside the city, especially the south, seemed to focus on the now familiar social tensions that existed. The photos of New York seemed more pleasant. Could it be that this European immigrant and victim of World War II was comfortable in urban, and largely European, New York, but uncomfortable once across the Hudson?

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