Caravans--Architecture 1941 - 1945

Robert Frank made this black and white photograph, "Caravans--Architecture," at an undetermined time and place. The image depicts two mobile homes in a snowy landscape, smoke curling from a chimney, the sky a mix of clouds and grainy darkness. Frank is best known for "The Americans," his photo book from the late 1950s that took a critical look at American society. It's important to remember that photography has always been tied to social observation and reform. Think of Jacob Riis’s images of slum life in New York that helped bring about changes in housing laws. Likewise, Frank’s seemingly simple image of these caravans could be a subtle commentary on the themes of transience and the search for home in a rapidly changing world. To fully understand this photograph, we might look into the history of mobile homes and the communities that inhabit them. The social history of photography gives us the means to explore these questions and to understand the complex relationship between art and society.