BERENICE ABBOTT

July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991

Biography

Berenice Abbott was an American photographer best known for her portraits of cultural figures of the interwar period, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science interpretation of the 1940s to the 1960s.

Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio and brought up in Ohio by her divorced mother, née Lillian Alice Bunn (m. Charles E. Abbott in Chillicothe OH, 1886).

She attended Ohio State University for two semesters, but left in early 1918 when her professor was dismissed because he was a German teaching an English class. She moved to New York City, where she studied sculpture and painting. In 1921 she traveled to Paris and studied sculpture with Emile Bourdelle. While in Paris, she became an assistant to Man Ray, who wanted someone with no previous knowledge of photography. Abbott took revealing portraits of Ray’s fellow artists.

Her university studies included theater and sculpture. She spent two years studying sculpture in Paris and Berlin. She studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris and the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. During this time, she adopted the French spelling of her first name, “Berenice,” at the suggestion of Djuna Barnes. In addition to her work in the visual arts, Abbott published poetry in the experimental literary journal transition. Abbott first became involved with photography in 1923, when Man Ray hired her as a darkroom assistant at his portrait studio in Montparnasse. Later, she wrote: “I took to photography like a duck to water. I never wanted to do anything else.” Ray was impressed by her darkroom work and allowed her to use his studio to take her own photographs. In 1921 her first major works was in an exhibition in the Parisian gallery Le Sacre du Printemps. After a short time studying photography in Berlin, she returned to Paris in 1927 and started a second studio, on the rue Servandoni.

Photography helps people to see.

Berenice Abbott is an American photographer known for her documentary and street photography. Abbott’s work played a significant role in capturing the essence of New York City during the 1930s.

The quote reflects Abbott’s belief in the power of photography as a medium to enhance perception and understanding. She saw photography as a tool that could not only capture the visible world but also reveal hidden truths and encourage viewers to engage more deeply with their surroundings. Through her photographs,

Abbott aimed to provide a fresh perspective and to awaken people’s awareness of the world around them.

Abbott’s statement emphasizes the ability of photography to uncover and communicate stories, to shed light on aspects of life that may otherwise go unnoticed. It suggests that photography has the capacity to open people’s eyes, to encourage them to observe and appreciate the world in a more meaningful and perceptive way.