New York, Wall Street, from Camera Work XLVIII

Paul Strand

1916

Photogravure

Seattle Art Museum

Paul Strand's image of workers striding down Wall Street in 1916 is an iconic photograph of the 20th century. People are dwarfed by the structure of the buildings, but their shadows cast elongated accents as they head into the early morning sun. New York City's compulsion for commerce is paid tribute by Strand, who had just begun his illustrious career as a photographer. Turning away from the soft focus of earlier photographic styles, his innovative view of realism has been likened to the equivalent of an image cast in bronze. Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund Object number 77.6