Robert Frank: The Americans

In 1955 with funding secured from the Guggenheim Foundation, [Robert Frank](/artist/robert-frank) set off to photograph America, 35mm Leica camera and Ford Business Coupe in tow. Of the 27,000 images Frank shot on his journey documenting the nation, 83 black-and-white photographs were chosen for his seminal monograph *The Americans*. Published in 1959 with an introduction by beatnik legend Jack Kerouac, the collection has had [seismic effects](/article/artsy-editorial-robert-franks-the-americans-matters-today) on American art and culture to this day. Frank’s haunting images reveal a nation troubled by racism, classism, and an American dream that remains stubbornly inaccessible for many. *The Americans* inspired a generation of street photographers in the 1960s and ’70s who prioritized chance encounters and the universal narratives they could reveal through their subjects.