Changing New York: The Work of Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott (July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991) was one of the first photographers to capture the beauty of a great city. She was an American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 1930s. Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio, moved to New York in 1918, and went to Europe in 1921. She studied sculpture for two years in Paris and Berlin. She became involved in photography in 1923 when she was introduced to Man Ray. She later wrote, “I took to photography like a duck to water. I never wanted to do anything else.” Abbott returned to New York in 1929 and immediately saw its photographic potential. She was hired by the Federal Artists Project (FAP) to supervise one of her greatest projects.
Berenice Abbott is best known for her work on New York City. Her project, titled “Changing New York,” was a photographic documentation of New York City and the beauty it holds. Abbott used a style of straight photography to portray the beauty of NYC’s architecture and urban life. She wanted to capture the life of everyday New Yorkers in a purely genuine and unmanipulated manner. Abbott documented New York’s change over the years and ended her project with a clear representation of the city as it is today. By the end of the project in 1939, Berenice Abbott produced 305 photographs which were then deposited at the Museum of the City of New York.
