New York - A contrast in images

The City of Ambitions (1864) - Alfred Stieglitz

Midnight at the Bowery Mission Breadline (1906 -7) - Lewis Hine

In this blog post I want to discuss the contrast between 2 city themed photographs taken with less than 50 years between them. The first is by Alfred Stieglitz titled ‘The City of Ambitions’ (1864) and the second image is by Lewis Hine titled ‘Midnight at the Bowery Mission Breadline’ (1906-7), both images are of New York but tell 2 very different stories.
The titles themselves immediately give clue to their respective photographer’s views on society which is more than likely backed up by the feeling of society itself at the time.
The first title instils a feeling that New York is an up and coming metropolis where all your life’s ambitions are there to be realised.
The second title presents us with the stark reality, that the people who helped create this city were now struggling to survive in such a busy district.
I believe both images also reflect on the upbringing and lifestyle of each photographer.
Stieglitz was born into a family with enough money to send him to the best private school in New York, this gave him an upbringing that allowed him to view New York as a place where he could nurture his talent.
As a result of this he saw photography as an art form and his photographs show this well. Although ‘The city of ambitions’ is nothing compared to what we see nowadays due to technological advances, at the time it would have deemed a wonderful cityscape showing everything that’s beautiful about the big apple.
In contrast, Hine’s upbringing and loss of his father led him to saving money so that he could afford an education. This led to him becoming a sociology teacher photographing immigrant’s arriving in the city in search of a better life.
This social awareness is visible in all of his photographs, he saw the power that documentary photography could have by raising awareness of the conditions in the city once dubbed the city of ambitions.
Midnight at the Bowery Mission Breadline tells the story of people at the bottom of the ladder in such a simple yet powerful way, not a smile in sight, just men trying to cope for the sake of their families and themselves.
When reading the images side by side we see that both images give personal accounts of the city.
‘The City of Ambitions’ is shot in portrait, perhaps this was simply to fit more scenery in the image or maybe Stieglitz was intentionally hinting towards a feeling of higher power in these tall buildings, suggesting they have some sort of link to the heavens.
Roughly 46 years later Hine’s image suggests that all ambition has been dashed. This image was shot in landscape, perhaps intentionally as it makes the viewer feel grounded and also allows more subjects to be included in the shot as opposed to a traditional portrait. This grounded feeling also reflects the personality of Hine himself who felt some sort of connection to social misgivings that New York presented.