City of London 1952

Robert Frank made this gelatin silver print, titled "City of London," sometime during his career. Frank, a Swiss-American photographer, is known for his raw, documentary-style images that often captured a sense of alienation and social tension in postwar society. Here, we see two men in bowler hats walking on a city street. The bowler hat, a symbol of British formality, and the formal suits, might speak to the rigid class structures of mid-century London. The grainy texture and stark contrast lend a certain anonymity, perhaps reflecting Frank’s outsider perspective as a foreigner observing the city. Frank once said, "When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of poetry twice.” The photograph invites us to consider the nuances of identity, class, and belonging, and to reflect on the emotional undercurrents of urban life.