
Atlas— Frank #2, from the series "Working People"
<p>Milton Rogovin was a lifelong champion of working and everyday people. "The rich have their photographers," he said. "I photograph the forgotten ones." An optometrist in Buffalo, New York, Rogovin was politically active, and he turned to photography in the late 1950s as a way to speak out about his community. Rogovin photographed people near his Lower West Side office, returning to photograph the same individuals over the decades, ultimately producing a body of work remarkable for its straightforward approach and sympathetic rapport. In 1975, Rogovin closed his optometry practice to photograph workers in Buffalo's steel mills, contrasting images of labor to those of life at home. Here Rogovin shows Frank Andrzjewski, Jr., a steelworker at Atlas Steel who enjoyed spending time outdoors with his family. After Atlas Steel closed, Frank's wife got a job and left the family, and he raised his two children alone.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1978
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image: 17.4 × 17.7 cm (6 7/8 × 7 in.); Paper: 25.1 × 20.2 cm (9 15/16 × 8 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Milton Rogovin
Artist

Photography
Milton Rogovin was an American photographer known for sustained documentary work among working-class and marginalized communities from the 1940s onward. His photographs of coal miners in Appalachia, steelworkers in Pennsylvania, and residents of Buffalo's East Side combined unflinching social observation with formal clarity and deep respect for his subjects. Working primarily in black and white, Rogovin created extended series that functioned as visual archives of labor and everyday life in postwar industrial America. His approach to portraiture rejected sentimentality in favor of direct engagement and prolonged presence within communities.
Full artist profile →More
More by Milton Rogovin
Untitled, from the series "Lower West Side"
2002 · Gelatin silver print
Felix and Wife #3, from the series "Lower West Side"
1992 · Gelatin silver print
Papo #2
1992 · Gelatin silver print
Lucy #2
1992 · Gelatin silver print
Untitled
1992 · Gelatin silver print
Untitled, from the series "Lower West Side"
1992 · Gelatin silver print
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Milton Rogovin
- Year
- 1978
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image: 17.4 × 17.7 cm (6 7/8 × 7 in.); Paper: 25.1 × 20.2 cm (9 15/16 × 8 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1978-093040
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





