The El at Columbus Avenue and Broadway
Photograph
The El at Columbus Avenue and Broadway
1929
Gelatin silver print
Image: 6 7/16 × 8 3/4 in. (16.3 × 22.2 cm)
Purchase
1967.0006.0001
Inscriptions Stamped in red ink on verso, C: PHOTO \ BERNICE ABBOTT \ 56 WEST 53rd STREET \ NEW YORK CITY
Titled and dated in pencil on verso, BC: 1930 \ "Horse in Lincoln Square"
Dated in pencil on verso, TC: 1930
Inscribed in pencil on verso, TR: layout
Inscribed in pencil on verso, RC: 4RB
Stamped in ink on verso, BRC: 11375[?]
Titled and dated in pencil on verso, BC: 1930 \ "Horse in Lincoln Square"
Dated in pencil on verso, TC: 1930
Inscribed in pencil on verso, TR: layout
Inscribed in pencil on verso, RC: 4RB
Stamped in ink on verso, BRC: 11375[?]
TextAfter studying sculpture in Berlin and Paris, Berenice Abbott returned to New York City in 1929 and turned her focus to photography. This photograph demonstrates, with its unusual vantage point, Abbott’s familiarity with the aesthetic principles popular among avant-garde photographers in Europe at the time. As a reaction to industrialization, these New Vision photographers emphasized the mechanical characteristics of camera images and experimented with unconventional points of view.
