Yom Kippur, East River, New York

<p>This picture, of religiously observant Jewish passengers taking the Staten Island ferry on the Day of Atonement that follows the Jewish New Year, appears in Robert Frank’s landmark book <em>The Americans</em>. Frank came to New York from his native Zurich in 1947 and published <em>The Americans</em> a decade later, after extensive travels around the United States. Frank was Jewish, and his father had fled persecution in Germany. The knot of black-clad ferry riders, along with the lone young man in a suit of lighter color and the child—each a possible stand-in for the photographer—face a journey of discovery and reflection that, in 1954, also awaited Frank as he embarked on a lengthy career in photography, books, and film.</p> <p>Robert Frank died on September 9, 2019 at the age of 94.</p>