This exhibition crossed the Atlantic to the Museum of the City of New York to let us rediscover the streets of London: its Victorian buildings, its beautiful cars, and the places where the people spend their time. The exhibition was intended to coincide with the opening of the Olympics at the end of July. First shown in 2010 at the Museum of London, London Street Photography attracted more than 125,000 visitors—a record. The show features around 140 images taken between 1860 and 2010 by more than 50 photographers, including John Thompson, László Moholy-Nagy, Nick Turpin, Paul Strand, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus and Jacob Riis.
As usual, most of these photographers chose to turn their lens on the ordinary, with a touch of humor specific to street photography. Each image is an adventure linked to chance and spontaneity, dependent on the juxtaposition of people and things the photographer was able to fit into the frame. More importantly than the compositions, each image is an historical document, a fraction of a bygone era, of our own time, that’s necessary to know in order to keep looking to the future.
Organized chronologically, we can see parallels between the modernization of the city and the evolution of its aesthetic. At the MCNY, other streets, similar in character to those of London, are worth walking down again. A companion exhibition presents a series of New York photographs. These are two cities with related but distinct histories that the museum has reunited for a charming summer show.
Jonas Cuénin
London Street Photography (1860-2010)
Exhibition to Open Alongside Companion Exhibition on NYC Street Photography (1888-2002)
Au Museum of City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029
– USA
Phone : 212) 534-1672
