Berenice Abbott
A photographer with a scientist's eye, she rescued a genius from obscurity and then permanently changed how we see the city of New York.
1898–1991 (age 93)·American photographer·Birthday: July 17·The Lost Generation
Biography
Berenice Abbott arrived in photography almost by accident, first as a darkroom assistant in 1920s Paris. There, she performed one of the medium's great acts of preservation, resurrecting the work of the forgotten Eugène Atget, whose influence would deeply shape her. Returning to a rapidly changing New York, she embarked on her monumental 'Changing New York' project. With a stark, geometric clarity, she documented the collision of old and new architecture, creating an unmatched visual census of the city's soul. Never content, she later turned her lens to the invisible forces of physics, creating startlingly beautiful images that explained scientific principles. Abbott's career was a lifelong argument for realism, proving that a camera, in the right hands, could be both a precise documentary tool and a powerful instrument of art.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Berenice was born in 1898, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Berenice Was Born
The biggest hits of 1898
Berenice's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1898Born
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1903Started school
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Became a teenager
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1914Could drive
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Could vote
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1919Turned 21
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1928Turned 30
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1938Turned 40
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1948Turned 50
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1958Turned 60
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1968Turned 70
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1978Turned 80
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1991Died at 93
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
Key Achievements
- Produced the landmark documentary project 'Changing New York' in the 1930s, a definitive photographic record of the city's architecture.
- Rescued and catalogued the archive of French photographer Eugène Atget, securing his posthumous fame.
- Created the influential 'Physics Pictures' series, visualizing scientific concepts like magnetism and wave motion for MIT.
- Authored the instructional book 'A Guide to Better Photography,' outlining her realist approach to the medium.
Did You Know?
She originally went to Paris to study sculpture and was a part of the city's avant-garde artistic community.
She briefly ran her own portrait studio in Paris, where she photographed figures like James Joyce and Jean Cocteau.
She was a passionate critic of the subjective style of 'artistic' photography, championing straight, unmanipulated images.
She invented and patented several photographic tools, including a distortion-correcting lens for architectural photography.
“Photography can never grow up if it imitates some other medium. It has to walk alone; it has to be itself.”
