In 1929, she visited New York. When she saw how the skyscraper building boom was changing New York City, she quickly decided to move to the city to photograph the contrasts between old and new. The project lasted 10 years. Abbott felt compelled by a "fantastic passion" to make a portrait of the city she loved. She said, "I really was smitten with New York...There was a tremendous dynamism... and that prompted me to photograph it."

She used an 8 by 10-inch view camera on a tripod. Although very heavy and slow to operate, this camera allowed Abbott to create shifts in perspective, which make her compositions dynamic and exciting. Seen from below--a "worm's-eye view"--skyscrapers thrust into the air. Seen from above--"a bird's-eye view"--the geometric shapes of modern buildings contrast with the delicate textures of older architecture. The photographer's goal was to represent the past and the future of this intense city, which she said had a dual personality: to Abbott, New York City was "delightful" and at the same time it was a "monster."

Sometimes people made it difficult for the small woman with a huge camera to photograph on the streets of New York, but she persisted. Realistic photography was not fashionable and Abbott had a tough time making a living during the Depression. Finally the Federal Arts Project gave her funds to hire an assistant, a driver, and a research team, and paid here a salary of $35 per week. Many of the photographs, with McCausland's descriptions, are published in the book, Changing New York, which is available in libraries.

Abbott photographed for 60 years. She lived until the age of 93, spending her final years in rural Maine.

Vocabulary Terms

Depression--A period during the 1930s of drastic decline in the economy characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment.

Federal Arts Project (FAP)--A program organized by the U. S. government in 1935 during the Depression designed to employ artists by placing them on the federal payroll and in return having the works they produced, which included murals, photographs, archival drawings, and easel paintings, submitted to the government for use in public buildings. By the time it was dissolved in 1943, the FAP had employed ten thousand artists.

[ Return to the TOP of the page ]