Two women look out from adjacent windows of a brick apartment building, beneath an American flag that ripples in the wind. One of their faces falls in shadow, and the other is obscured by the stars and stripes.

This is photographer Robert Frank’s depiction of a parade in Hoboken, N.J., in 1955, from his series “The Americans.” The festivities may be on the street below, the photo seems to suggest, but the enthusiasm, or any sense of patriotism, is lost in a mood of gloom.

In “American Photography,” a vast new exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a half dozen black-and-white photos from “The Americans” are displayed in the first room, on a wall opposite an array of colorful magazine pages from the same time,x777 casino from Sports Illustrated, Life and House Beautiful.

Calls for school crackdowns have mounted with reports of cyberbullying among adolescents and studies indicating that smartphones, which offer round-the-clock distraction and social media access, have hindered academic instruction and the mental health of children.

The contrast is stark: Frank’s shots captured the isolation, yearning, and despair of American life — a far cry from the bright pastels on the optimistic, glossy covers.

Mattie Boom and Hans Rooseboom, the two Dutch co-curators of “American Photography,” which opens Friday and runs through June 9, said that American photography has always reflected these two poles of the American self-image: an idyllic depiction and the reality.

Image“Homegirls, San Francisco” (2008) by Amanda López.Credit...Amanda López; Smithsonian National Museum of American History

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

ng slot

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.7xm