(1898 – 1991) Photographer

Bernice Abbott was an American photographer best known for her images of New York during the 20th Century. She was born in Springfield, Ohio, on 17th July 1898 and would attend Ohio State University until 1918. She would then moved to Paris to study sculpture under Emile Bourdelle. Here she would also assist Man Ray with his photography.

Bernice Abbott would moved to New York in 1929 where she would photograph the landscape and produce images showing the development of technology and society. As part of this she would be part of the straight photography movement, which attempted to capture a scene in sharp focus to illustrate as much detail as possible.

In addition to her photographic work Abbott would also co-found ‘House of Photography’, which developed and sold photographic equipment between 1947 and 1959. She would also produce a number of images for scientific textbooks.

In 1991 she would die in Monson, Maine.