Berenice Abbott
Famous Photographer Project
Berenice Abbott. Seventh Avenue Looking South from 35th Street, Manhattan. December 5, 1935
Berenice Abbott. Eugene Atget. 1927
Berenice Abbott. Brooklyn Bridge, Water and New Dock Streets, Brooklyn. May 22, 1936
Berenice Abbott. Interference of Waves. 1958-61
Berenice Abbott moved to New York from Ohio to study structure and journalism. She followed the structure path in Paris, France. When she was an assistant at Man Ray Studio, she found her passion for photography.
At the rise of the Great Depression, Abbott began to take photos of the New York landscape. Her first photography debut was in 1939 and was titled Changing New York. Changing New York consisted of 266 small black-and-white prints arranged on thirty-two pages. Abbott’s New York album marks a key turning point in her career.
In 1926, Abbott was declared an independent photographer. Her photos rivaled Man Ray Studios.
In her portrait work, Abbott's subjects remained casual instead of formal. She would capture parts of conversations or movements.
Berenice Abbott
American Photographer
Sketchbook Assignment
Composition:
Filling the Frame - there is little to negative space with hands and hat.
Bird's eye - photographer to needs to stand above subject in order to get exact angle.
Light:
The light was controlled by natural light and house lights above the subject.
Berenice Abbott. Hands of Jean Cocteau. 1927
Composition:
Filling the Frame - there is little to negative space with hands and hat.
Bird's eye - photographer to needs to stand above subject in order to get exact angle.
Light:
The light was probably controlled by studio lighting.
Similarities:
The hands and hat fill the frame of both images. There is little negative space.
Both images have a black and white appearance.
The hands are situated the same way on top of the hat.
Differences:
The lighting on Abbott's photo creates darker shadows.
More of the hat is featured in original.
My hands are not as pronounced as Abbott's subject's hands.
Abbott used a black background for her image.
Abbott's photo has a yellow hue.
Sketchbook Assignment
Composition:
Asymmetry - The window and the door are unbalanced.
Leading lines - the framing of the front porch area leads the eye up to the door.
Light:
The light was controlled by natural light.
Berenice Abbott. Doorway, 204 West 13th Street, Manhattan. May 5, 1937
Composition:
Asymmetry - The window and the door are unbalanced.
Leading lines - the framing of railing on the front porch area leads the eye up to the door.
Light:
The light was controlled by natural light.
Similarities:
Both images highlight a unique doorway that introduce a home.
There is a window on the left side of each door.
The angle has the door is not directly center facing.
Differences:
There is a lot more going on in my photo versus Abbott's. There are items that make it look more like the country than the city.
My doorway does not have a railing.
Abbott's photo has a yellow hue.
There is more stairs in Abbott's photo. The stairs are also coated in shadows from the railing.
Sketchbook Assignment
Composition:
Leading Lines - The top of the building leads the viewers eye out of the frame.
Light:
The light is controlled by natural lighting.
Berenice Abbott. Warehouse, Water and Dock Streets, Brooklyn. May 22, 1936
Composition:
Leading Lines - The top of the building leads the viewers eye out of the frame.
Light:
The light was controlled by natural light.
Similarities:
Both compositions follow rule of thirds as the viewers eye is led out of the frame by the building.
The ground in front of the building is visible in both images.
There is something at the end of the leading line -- a building in the original and a tree in mine.
Differences:
There is more sky closer to the camera in the original photograph.
The open windows are not seen in my image.
There is more of a yellow hue to the remake than the original.
Sketchbook Assignment
Composition:
Portrait - Typically a portrait does just feature the head and chest, but Berenice Abbott chose to highlight how the legs are in the seat as well.
Rule of Thirds - The subject is not completely in focus, but rather off to the side in two intersection areas.
Light:
The light was controlled by natural window lighting.
Berenice Abbott. Portrait of René Crevel, 1928.
Composition:
Portrait - Typically a portrait does just feature the head and chest, but Berenice Abbott chose to highlight how the legs are in the seat as well.
Rule of Thirds - The subject is not completely in focus, but rather off to the side in two intersection areas.
Light:
The light was controlled by studio lighting.
Similarities:
The composition for both images is the same. Both subjects are positioned toward the left side of the image and not directly in the center.
Both images are black and white and have a slight blur.
Differences:
The original photograph is a lot lighter because the man is wearing lighter clothing than the remake.
The chair in the original is a lot lower than the one used in the remake so the position of the subject is through off slightly.