Occasioned by a generous gift of more than five hundred photographs from BNY, this exhibition evokes the sights and sounds of the city by focusing on its finest details.  Beyond showing some of the ways photographers have charted urban life since the late nineteenth century, it traces how the art of the camera has itself developed in tandem with the rise of the modern metropolis, as increasing portability and faster film speed made it an ideal medium for formal experimentation with the built environment as part of human experience.

The exhibition features work by Berenice Abbott, Jules Allen, Diane Arbus, Roy DeCarava, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt, Irving Penn, Edward Steichen, among others. They documented their surroundings and their neighbors by distilling scenes out of the throng and hum of the city, whether it be the balletic poses of children playing, or the moody appearance of a building shrouded in fog. These iconic moments—some dynamic, some still—reflect not just the richness of urban life, but also of photography itself.

City Pictures is organized by Dan Leers, curator of photography.