BerniceAbbott

Bernice Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio on July 17, 1898. Most of Abbott’s photographs were taken around New York, although she spent two years in Europe, mostly in Paris. She focused primarily on architecture, urban design, and street-life around New York. Abbott was a part of the straight photograph movement, believing that photographs should be completely un-manipulated. Most of her photographs were black and white. Her inspiration was to document some extremely unique and extravagant New York City buildings. She monumented some of these exquisite buildings, some of which are now destroyed, for years to come. Her initial pictures were taken with a Kurt-Bentzin camera, but she primarily used a Century Universal camera that made 8x10 glass plate negatives. These cameras were in a wide-format, which created a wider image. Abbott's early career was hindered by her generosity; she aided a close friend, Eugéne Atget. This helped him become more famous, yet prevented Abbott's fame. After she left Atget, her career was much more successful and she created some of her best work. Abbott not only made contributions to photography but to science as well. She took photographs for a high-school science textbook. Another contribution was her House of Photography, which allowed her to expose her photographic inventions. One of these was an easel, which allowed her to make unique effects on prints. Another of these inventions was the "autopole", a telescopic lighting pole, where lights can be mounted on any level. Towards the end of her life, Bernice moved out of New York and to Maine after she developed lung problems in the city. She died on December 9, 1991.

James Joyce http://www.gumbopages.com/looka/images/Abbott_Joyce.jpg

Night View ( New York) http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_89028_303862_berenice-abbott.jpg

Sources Cited: http://masters-of-photography.com/A/abbott/abbott_articles1.html