George Washington Bridge, 129th Street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan, January 17, 1936

This black and white photograph stresses the verticality and imposing structure of the George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey. The tightly framed low-angle shot seeks to isolate the huge structure and give it a distinctly sculptural dimension.

George Washington Bridge, 129th Street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan, January 17, 1936 is part of "Changing New York", the massive project American photographer Berenice Abbott worked on from 1935 to 1939. Her goal was to draw the most exhaustive and objective portrait possible of the metropolis, which was undergoing a metamorphosis. Aiming for photography that is both documentary and artistic, she varied original points of view, innovated in framing and favoured low-angle shots, as in this picture.

George Washington Bridge, 129th Street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan, January 17, 1936 was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection at the show "Luogo e Segni" ("Place and Signs") at the Punta della Dogana in Venice in 2019.