Oliver Street, Numbers 13 1/2 - 29, Manhattan 1937

Berenice Abbott captured Oliver Street, Numbers 13 1/2 - 29, Manhattan with her camera, using light and shadow like a painter uses brushstrokes. You know, photography is all about capturing light, but it's also about seeing shapes, which Abbott does brilliantly. The texture in this photograph is amazing, right? Look at the brickwork, the way the sunlight hits it, creating these deep shadows. It's almost sculptural. Then there's the street itself, smooth but worn, reflecting the light in a different way. I'm drawn to the little car parked on the street. It’s a dark shape, sort of asserting itself, but also being softened by the light, nestled in this urban landscape. Abbott reminds me of Eugène Atget, another photographer who documented cityscapes with a similar eye for detail and atmosphere. They both have this knack for finding beauty in the everyday, for making the ordinary feel extraordinary. With Atget and Abbott, it's not just about what they saw, but how they saw it, and how they made us see it too.