Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times

First edition of Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times. First impression. Medium format hardback in near fine condition. Some very minor sunning to the spine of the dust jacket only.

About

Ben Shahn, renowned painter, muralist, and graphic artist, was also a talented photographer who made documentary street photographs in New York City in the early 1930s. This book is the first to focus on his compelling New York images, showing how he used a camera to comment on many social issues of his day. As a political activist Shahn became interested in newspaper photography as source material for some of his paintings and satires. Soon he was engaged in street photography himself, documenting the working-class and immigrant populations and providing a poignant record of unemployment and poverty during the Depression years. The book considers the immediate social history of Shahn's New York photographs and analyses how his leftist politics and his interest in news photographs and film affected his photographic aesthetic.