How did Berenice Abbott use photographs to show New York City architecture in the 1930s?

Berenice Abbott documented New York City in the 1930s by systematically capturing its rapidly changing architectural character through a series of crisp, objective photographs. Inspired by the work of Eugène Atget, she sought to record the city's modernization, a project that eventually became part of the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1935.1

Her approach was characterized by a methodical and documentary style, which she used to encapsulate the growth of the city during the Great Depression. These images were later compiled and published in her 1939 book, Changing New York (later reissued as New York in the Thirties). While her work contributed to the emerging subgenre of street photography, her focus remained on the structural evolution of the urban landscape, reflecting the broader American experience of industry and modernization during that era.12