Berenice Abbott

An America photographer best known for black and white images of New York architecture and 1930s urban design.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenice_Abbot

Now excuse my rudeness but the above photograph does not fill me with an initial expectation. But as life shows us first impressions are very rarely correct and as the 1930s has always interested me I am very intrigued by what this artist will bring to my knowledge base.

Initial thoughts are that she brings times and situations gone by that are really fascinating by the sheer fact that they could not now be replicated in today's society. Like taking photographs in the times of smog in London during maximum pollution from coal and forms of travel she shows shops and lifestyles that were every day occurrences which now you rarely see, or if you do they look dated.
Her images have so much clarity and realism.

There is such an emphasis of the era and what was important to people. Abbott documented the changing face of New York City over a 10 year period sponsored by the works progress commission.

Already initial reading it shows this woman was not only talented but also ambitious in her abilities. Changing many thoughts about photography especially from the prospective of a woman. Now my interest grows as I make this discovery! Not as a woman's libber. but as a person who wants to make a difference.

The more I read about this lady the more interested I become. I have been reading The Education of a Photographer and within this is the section on Berenice Abbott. At the end of her section she talks about photography photo document. This is the area that interests me and definitely the way I want to head. It is amazing that the article was written back in 1951.

To quote "Today we are confronted by reality on the vastest scale mankind has known. Some people are still unaware that reality contains unparalleled beauties. The fantastic and the unexpected, the ever-changing and renewing is nowhere so exemplified as in real life itself. Once we understand this, it exercises a dynamic compulsion on us, and the photo-document is born"

This is so how I am thinking. I have started a new blog in Wordpress that focuses on m interest in music and people within the scootering scene. Let's see what that brings. Hopefully it will be a record of our time and of interest to others.

These are some images that I found had been out together on u-tube that I thought fitted nicely to what I am trying to say in words.

A few Berenice Abbotts

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Location:The Square,,United Kingdom