Works by Berenice Abbott

New York in 1925 was full of prosperity in the new world. At New York's waterfront docks, large and small ships loaded with coal, iron ore, lumber and wheat passed through the hazy water vapor and docked in turn to unload. Immigrants from across the ocean landed here, with confusion and hope in their eyes. The busy dock porters held cigarettes in their mouths, held fiber ropes in their hands, and struggled to pull the docked ships to the berthing point. This glitzy scene during New York's rise deeply shocked Berenice Abbott, who was only 25 years old at the time. The young female photographer picked up the bulky old-fashioned camera in her hand and ran almost frantically along the busy, messy and vibrant New York waterfront pier.

With an unpretentious attitude, she recorded the glitz of New York's waterfront and the restless soul of that era, witnessing the prime period of New York's growth history. It can be said that New York’s waterfront piers almost made Berenice her dream, until she sadly passed away decades later.