Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Robert Frank's "City Fathers" and "Parade-Hoboken, N.J."



Bresson’s The Modern Century reminds me of Robert Frank’s The Americans. Both seem to be concerned with problems of the social classes. Two powerful images of Frank are City Fathers and Parade-Hoboken, N.J.
In City Fathers the subjects are well-dressed, high-class men with their heads high and posture indicating prestige. Parade-Hoboken, N.J., on the other hand, consists of two apartment windows with a flag outside covering half of the image. Two men are staring down from each window. The one on the left looks like the typical common man whereas the man on the right is wearing a fancy jacket. The right man’s face is covered by the American flag. This image is very powerful because it looks as if the photographer is saying "Faceless man behind flag. Common man shows his true face”. Conceptually speaking, from the way the subjects of both photographs are dressed, the type of men Frank calls City Fathers are the same faceless man behind government posts.

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