Chinatown Under the El

Berenice Abbott, born in Springfield, Ohio, is known for evocative photographs of architecture and urban settings, as well as portraits. In 1935, the year of this photograph, she was hired by the Federal Art Project to supervise a series known as Changing New York. In this work, the dapples of brilliant sunshine filtering through the elevated railway’s tracks onto the cobblestone streets and brick façades help to create a dramatic, almost stage-like setting for what is otherwise a rather mundane slice of city life: residents going about their business.