Getty Museum
Union Square, Manhattan
Creator
Berenice AbbottAmerican Photographer · 1898–1991
All works by this person →> The challenge for me has first been to see things as they are, whether a portrait, a city street, or a bouncing ball. In a word, I have tried to be objective. What I mean by objectivity is not the objectivity of a machine, but of a sensible human being with the mystery of personal selection at the heart of it. The second challenge has been to impose order onto the things seen and to supply the v
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- July 16, 1936
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 0a4eadb1-a904-4307-8de8-25a7bb7965ae
Oblivious to Berenice Abbott's camera, pedestrians at Union Square in New York City were photographed mid-stride on an especially sunny and warm day. Union Square has long been a center of commercial activity, as well as a busy intersection where people catch one of the many subway or bus lines that run along Lexington Avenue, Columbus or Broadway. While recording the intersection, Abbot also documented the area's prominent billboards and businesses. Abbott's intention when making this photograph was not simply to record a place, but to convey the vitality of New York. Her work during this period parallels that of Walker Evans, who often photographed New York's hurrying pedestrians, advertisements, and varieties of architecture as evidence of popular culture.
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