Legends of photography

Tim Clinch tells us more about a photographic pioneer who documented the birth of modern-day New York

Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) is remembered as one of the most independent, determined and respected photographers of the 20th century and known, amongst other things, as the woman who documented the birth of modern-day New York.

For me there are two sides to her story: her photography, which is inspirational, and her life story which is remarkable. If anyone can be said to have fully lived a life it would be her.

Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1898, Abbott endured a lonely and unhappy childhood. Later in life, she attributed her strength of character, determination and independence to her unpleasant childhood experiences.

Leaving home in 1917 having borrowed $20 for the train ticket (money seemed to be a constant struggle for her during her lifetime), Abbott headed to New York with a vague idea to pursue her interest in sculpture, where she did various dead-end jobs and became inspired by the blossoming art scene in Greenwich village where she settled, embracing a bohemian lifestyle, making friends with poets, artists and anarchists.

After WW1 artists began to return to Europe, Abbott followed her friends, travelling to France on 21 March 1921. Persistent money worries always being a problem, she arrived in Paris with six dollars and a letter of introduction to the writer, André Gide. A meeting with Man Ray turned her life around when he offered her the job of running his studio and becoming his darkroom assistant… a relationship that would end badly after he encouraged her to take photographs of her own and to use his studio. Having seen Abbott’s portraits, the influential art dealer Peggy Guggenheim commissioned her for a portrait session rather than choosing Man Ray himself, whereupon an enraged Ray sacked her on the spot and threw her out of his studio leaving her unemployed and without any equipment (Peggy Guggenheim believed in her enough to loan her enough money to buy a new camera of her own.)

She later met the elusive and mysterious Eugène Atget, at that stage well advanced in years, who refused to believe his work had any merit and was totally disillusioned with the photographic and the art world. Abbott finally persuaded him to sit for a portrait but when she delivered the prints a week later she discovered that he had died the previous day. Fearing that Atget’s huge collection of prints and glass plates might be lost, Abbott started trying to acquire them, with financial support from her friends. She became the sole owner of the Atget collection and worked hard to acquire for Atget the recognition she knew he deserved.

So admire Berenice Abbott’s photography, but also marvel at her fascinating, determined and slightly chaotic life. She is truly one of the greats.