Spotlight: Berenice Abbott

Berenice (known as Bernice) Abbott was an American photographer active in the early-mid 1900s. Her most well-known works include her New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, portraits of cultural figures of the interwar period, and science interpretation of the 1940s to the 1960s. 

She studied sculpture in Paris before training with photographer, Man Ray, and opening her own Parisian photography studio in 1926.

Captivated by architecture, her series ‘Changing New York’ later became an archive of images. The archive offers invaluable insight into life at the time and remains a fascinating documentary of the buildings of the era. An all-round fabulous woman and photographer!

Berenice Abbott, Vista: Thames Street, No. 22, Man., 1938, gelatin silver photograph, 23.7 x 18.1 cm, 9 5/16 x 7 1/8 in., © Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection

Berenice Abbott, Old Post Office, Broadway and Park Row, Manhattan, 1935, © The New York Public Library

Berenice Abbott, Cheese Store: 276 bleeker Street, Manhattan, 1937, gelatin silver photograph, 24.3 x 19.2 cm, 9 9/16 x 7 9/16 in., © Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection