Photography helps people to see

Berenice Abbott was born in 1898 in Ohio. Abbott went to Ohio State University for one year before moving to New York in
1918 to do sculpture. While in New York, Berenice met Marcel and Man Ray who were the core founders of Dada Movement, which
was an artistic intellectual movement which emerged as a protest to the merciless suffering resulting from World War I. The artists in
the Dada Movement questioned the tradition and convention through nonsensical works that were presented in visual arts, literature,
and performances.
Abbott’s Career
Berenice relocated to Europe in the 1920s and worked as a photographic assistant to May Ray from 1925 to 1929. Through her work
in printing Man Ray’s photos, she discovered that she had a talent for photography. In 1926, Berenice had her very first solo showcase
in the Parisian gallery featuring her portraits in which she captured personalities that were associated with the avant-garde art
movements. During the same time period, Berenice also became fascinated with the works of Eugene Atget, who was a leading
photographer celebrated for his photos of the streets in Paris. She also established her own studio.
Photography to Documentary
Berenice shifted from portrait photography and concentrated on documentary photography, using the city as her main subject. This
was akin to images from Atget. This was in 1929, after her return to New York. In the 1930s, she concentrated on campaigns to
capture New York City’s transformation into the urban center that it was becoming. She was particularly enticed by the physical
changes that the city had undergone, the changes in the neighborhoods, and the huge skyscrapers replacing older buildings.
Changing New York
Abbott started a photographic documentary series of New York City part of a Federal Works initiative which was done from 1935 to
1939. At the end this project, Berenice published her photos as a book entitled Changing New York. She used a straightforward but
dynamic style which had strong dramatic angles and strong contrasts.
Abbott’s Other Works
In 1940, Abbott was appointed as the picture editor for Science Illustrate and continued in this role throughout the 1960s. During this
time, she expanded her subject material to encompass scientific images. She later moved to Maine in 1966 and progressed there as a
science photographer. She approached the world methodically just like she had done with the images and portraits of New York.
Berenice’s main subjects were individuals in the literary and artistic worlds, including French expatriates, nationals, and others who
were just passing through the city. In addition to her visual arts work, she published poetry on an experimental literary journal. She
also released a series of photos for a physics textbook for high schools together with the cover called “Bouncing ball in diminishing
arcs.”
Berenice died in the year 1991 in Maine.

Hands of Jean Cocteau, 1927

The photographer is the contemporary being par
excellence; through his eyes the now becomes the past.
Berenice Abbott
(July 17, 1898, Springfield, Ohio, USA – December 9, 1991 – Monson, Maine, USA)

Berenice Abbot, on her 90th birthday

Guida Burt
guidaburt@gmail.com
2017 May