A dramatic change in documentary photography occurred throughout the postwar consumer boom, where documentary photographs went from having a political basis to a subjective basis. Robert Frank's The Americans offered "cool and ironic images of the fleeting moments of ordinary life". This is a huge change from the social and political movements created by photographs such as Migrant Mother. Rather than analyzing the historical context and meaning behind photographs, documentary photography began to place more emphasis on appearance rather than fact.
It makes sense that this transition into subjectively based documentary photography in the postwar period followed the politically based documentary photography of the war. The consumer boom, introducing new technology, brought to life a different kind of society, appreciating new types of art. Photographs of this time period still prompted analysis, but moreso subjective analysis towards a brighter future than analysis of what needed to be changed. This shift brought along with it the focus on psychological and sociological interests of culture and people within these new societies, and as mentioned in the text, "more personal versions of the nature of social existence."
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