Berenice Abbott - Photographs

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott (1898 – 1991) is considered to be one of America's most important documentary photographers. She came to fame after releasing her Changing New York collection of photographs, which were taken between 1929 and 1939. The series of images documents New York City in times of change and not only features a combination of Victorian architecture and cowboy saloons, but also modern elements such as skyscrapers reaching high into the clouds and the first large billboards. Abbott explored the city, photographing it street by street. In doing so, she took a similar approach to her great role model Eugène Atget, who documented old Paris at the turn of the century and whom Abbott got to know and respect in the 1920s when she emigrated to Paris from New York. Years later, she purchased his estate in order to publish it. Berenice Abbott worked as Man Ray's assistant for three years; it was his recommendation that led her to start taking photographs herself. She also worked as a science photographer and a portraitist of well-known artists and authors including Edward Hopper, James Joyce, Jean Cocteau, Sylvia Beach and Djuna Barnes. With 82 photographs, Martin-Gropius-Bau offers insight into the oeuvre of a major artist.