Subway entrance--Early New York City no number c. 1950 - 1951

Robert Frank captured this strip of black and white images of a New York City subway entrance. Although the date of the images is unknown, Frank lived through a period of immense change. Born in Switzerland, Frank was a Jew who survived World War II, before immigrating to America. Here, we see images of people going about their daily lives above ground, and then the recordings drop below the surface to the entrance of a subway. Notice how the images above ground contain people of different apparent socioeconomic statuses and races. It's hard not to think about the dynamics and relations between people and the way we occupy public space, especially considering the historical context of the era in which Frank was working. Frank’s photographs are often tinged with a sense of alienation. The subway becomes a charged space, loaded with questions of who has access, and who is being left out. With the image of the subway Frank hints at the complex layers of urban existence.