The Americans is a photographic book by Robert Frank which was highly influential in post-war American photography.
It was first published in France in 1958, and the following year in the United States.
The photographs were notable for their distanced view of both high and low strata of American society.
Robert Frank originally published the book in France because American publishers completely rejected the manuscript, viewing his raw, grain-heavy photographs as deeply unflattering, cynical, and "anti-American" during the heightened patriotism of the Cold War era.
Discovered at Telefonica Fundacion in Madrid during my stay in June 2026.