Saturday, April 22, 2017

A returning WWII veteran captured an extraordinary photographic record of postwar NYC

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1946

LaSalle Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Harlem.

Image: Museum of the City of New York/Todd Webb Archive

In 1945, 40-year-old Todd Webb was discharged from the Navy and moved to New York City

Webb had cycled through a litany of professions before his service in the war. He settled on photography after taking a class with Ansel Adams and meeting with Alfred Stieglitz on his way through the city in 1942.

With Stieglitz’s encouragement, Webb decided to focus all his energies (and his modest savings) on photographing the booming postwar city

He spent his nights sleeping in the kitchen of photographer Harry Callahan’s Harlem apartment, and his days riding the Third Avenue El from 125th Street down to the towers of Midtown, the ethnic enclaves of the Lower East Side, and the historic buildings of the Financial District, capturing architecture, signage, and street life with a large format camera. Read more...

More about 1940s, Street Photography, New York City, New York, and History

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