In 1955, Frank set off across the U.S. to produce “the visual study of a civilization.” With an outsider’s eye, the Swiss-born Frank looked at his chosen country and found alienation, consumerism, and inequality. Adding to the sense of disquiet, he eschewed the bright and clear style of mass-media photography, creating grainy and off-kilter images instead.

After traveling over 10,000 miles and taking over 27,000 photographs, Frank reproduced only 83, including this one, in the resulting book, The Americans (1958). Published in the years of postwar boosterism, the book was disparaged by critics, who found it bleak and pessimistic—photographer Minor White called it “Utterly Misleading! A Degradation of a Nation!” and Popular Photography labeled Frank “a joyless man who hates the country of his adoption.” But The Americans became one of the most significant photobooks ever published, inspiring generations of artists to this day.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)