American Reflections: Tom Arndt

For this beautiful hard-cover monograph, Tom Arndt, one of the masters of documentary photography, opened his archives. Half a century of American history is told in a wandering road-movie through over 100 images. Under a sociological and empathetic gaze, Arndt captures fragments of the lives of women and men from the middle class, the agricultural world, the dreary suburbs and the hectic streets of great metropolises such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles or Minneapolis.

The illuminated signs, the reflections in the windows (themes that run through all of the photographer’s work) and the silhouettes taken from life are all details that structure the photographic image. Lights and architectural lines compose powerful images, icons of a timeless America.

Two essays by Sarah Hermanson Meister, former director of photography at MoMA NY and current director of the Aperture Foundation in New York, and Yasufumi Nakamori, senior curator at the Tate Modern in London, contextualise Arndt’s work in the history of American photography.

– Published February 2023