Willow Street #104, Brooklyn, New York 1936

Berenice Abbott made this photograph, “Willow Street #104, Brooklyn, New York,” with a large-format camera that rendered fine detail. She worked in the darkroom to bring out the subtle tonal variations in the gelatin silver print. The materiality of photography is central here. Light is literally captured on a treated surface, revealing the architecture of a changing city. Abbott was deeply interested in how New York was being reshaped by modernization, especially the rise of skyscrapers. Yet, here, she turns her attention to a more intimate urban scene, a Federal-style house whose geometry is softened by light and shadow. The ornate wrought ironwork in the foreground shows craft traditions persisting amid the rapid development. Ultimately, Abbott’s photographs remind us that even as cities evolve, they retain traces of the past, visible to those who take the time to look. The craft of photography, in her hands, is a tool for preserving those memories.