Atlas— Frank #1, from the series "Working People"

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.