San Francisco native Trevor Traina displays his personal collection of photos from some of the most eminent photographers of the past and current century starting June 9, 2012 at the de Young Museum.

Included in the collection is iconic black and white work by Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand. Contemporary work in color from such masters of the form as Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, Alec Soth and Andreas Gursky will also appear in the exhibition.

A substantial portion of the photography being showcased falls into the documentation-style genre and demonstrates the power of the medium of photography to inspire internal narrative in the onlooker. The “real” meaning, however, of a particular photo, may be as slippery as reality itself, and reflects the social and cultural baggage and predilections that each individual brings when viewing a work of art.

Especially poignant are the shots from alternative youth culture photographer, Ryan McGinley, who aptly captures the ebullience of adolescence and post-adolescence.

To accompany the showcase, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has published a book highlighting the photos in the Real to Real: Photographs from the Traina Collection exhibition with a foreword and introduction by Founding Curator of Photography and Chief Administrative Curator Julian Cox and an essay by art historian Kevin Moore.

Real to Real: Photographs from the Traina Collection will be on show at the de Young Museum until September 16, 2012.

Hours for the de Young Museum are Tuesday through Sunday 9:30 am to 5:15 pm,  and Friday 9:30 am to 8:45 pm; the museum is closed on Mondays.

• Tag: alec soth, Andreas Gursky, Cindy Sherman, de Young Museum, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, photography, realism, Robert Frank, Ryan McGinley, Stephen Shore, Trevor Traina, William Eggleston