by Ted Weinstein

With July 4th fast approaching, there might be no better way to express -- and examine -- your patriotism than a visit to SFMOMA to see , the Swiss photographer's profound and
path-breaking look at our fair nation.

He shot nearly 800 rolls of film over the course of his 1955 road trip around America and it's simply perfect that Jack Kerouac asked to write the intro to the resulting book of 83 images. It's all there: original contact sheets, scores of work prints, handwritten letters sent on quintessential hotel stationary during the trip, and a clear-eyed view of America that changed the way we see ourselves.

Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans"