New York c. 20th century

Paul Strand made "New York" using gelatin silver. It's a photograph, so the marks are made with light, and the darks are absolute. Strand worked with strong verticals and horizontals - the verticals create the dark rectangles of windows or doors or whatever they are, and the horizontal is the line of the sidewalk where people are walking. The surface texture of the photograph is quite smooth, but you can see a lot of different greys, and that creates a sense of depth and atmosphere. The light is raking, almost cinematic, and it emphasizes the anonymity of the figures walking along the sidewalk. There is a strong sense of form and space, and the contrast between light and dark is really striking. If you consider some of the German photographers from around the same time, like August Sander, you can see Strand grappling with the same issues of modern life. Ultimately the picture is a question mark. Is it about urban alienation? The geometry of the city? Or the way that light can transform the everyday world into something mysterious and beautiful?