Paul Strand
American, 1890–1976
The Court, New York
INV-5978
Paul Strand
American, 1890–19761924
The Court, New York
Paul Strand American, 1890–1976 →avant-gardegelatin silver (developing-out-paper) prphotographic process
Date
1924
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image/paper: 24.5 × 19.4 cm (9 11/16 × 7 11/16 in.); Mount: 45.4 × 35.2 cm (17 7/8 × 13 7/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Ada Turnbull Hertle Fund
Here Paul Strand reacted against an earlier trend in photography to imitate painting so photography would be more readily recognized as a fine art. Strand promoted what came to be known as straight photography, made (as he put it) “without tricks of process or manipulation.” In the years shortly before he made this image, Strand began experimenting with abstraction; acquired an 8 × 10–inch camera, and produced a film, Manhatta (1920–21); with artist Charles Sheeler. Such activities are reflected in this photograph, in which Strand angled his large-format camera downward to capture the geometric forms of the rooftops in striking detail. The angle echoes a scene from his own film that depicted the urban bustle of lower Manhattan.
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