New York Changing: Douglas Levere Revisits Berenice Abbott’s New York presents 50 pairs of photographs by contemporary photographer Douglas Levere and world-renown photographer Berenice Abbott. Abbott’s iconic photographs, drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, were taken in the 1930s and first published in her landmark book, Changing New York (1939). More than six decades later, Levere used the same camera Abbott had used and returned to the same locations at the same time of day and the same time of year. Indeed, he took on the role of detective as he successfully sought to understand and replicate every aspect of Abbott’s process. When seen side by side, these two remarkable bodies of work reveal much about the city and the nature of urban transformation. Perhaps more than anything else, these carefully crafted images powerfully suggest that in New York, the only constant is change.

Many of the photographs are shown side-by-side on the project’s web site at NEW YORK CHANGING | image list here
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, 212-534-1672

More About Berenice Abbott

• “An ever-changing New York: Photographers 60 years apart document the evolving landscape of New York City,” by Jerry Tallmer, The Villager, August 17-23, 2005
• “Berenice Abbott: CHANGING NEW YORK 1935-1938,” from the New York Public Library (photos and notes)
• Biography, from The International Photographers Hall of Fame
• Berenice Abbott – from the Minneapolis Institute of Art: “Photography doesn’t teach you how to express your emotions; it teaches you how to see.” (Art News, January 1981)
• Wikipedia