City Arabesque
Shot in 1938 as part of her Changing New York series for the Federal Art Project (FAP), City Arabesque epitomizes Berenice Abbott’s fascination with architecture and urban planning. Beyond being a creative pursuit, Changing New York was a sociological study of the built environment. Abbott believed that the habitats we construct say as much about humanity as our faces and bodies.
Abbott’s chronicles of New York focus on progress and the—at times alarming—speed at which the city was becoming engulfed in new architecture. City Arabesque peers out from the roof of 60 Wall Street Tower over a sprawling gray city without a soul in sight. The urban landscape has seemingly taken over, a phenomenon incited by the collective behavior of the city’s inhabitants but now flourishing with a mind of its own.
