# Name of a Photographer of NYC at night **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076 "2024-01-14T16:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/1 "2024-01-14T16:44:00Z")
I saw a series of remarkable black and white photos of NYC at night. Central Park and skyscrapers. These were taken in the 30’s or 40’s - 50’s? by a famous photographer and while there are scads of pictures online, I can’t find the right ones. Who would have made these photos? ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/2 "2024-01-14T17:26:55Z")
Berenice Abbott? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/3 "2024-01-14T18:06:18Z")
No, it was a man, possibly a ‘foreigner’. It might be Michael Massaia. Thank you anyway. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/4 "2024-01-14T18:54:43Z")
Andre Kertesz? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/5 "2024-01-14T19:17:53Z")
Weegee? > **[Weegee](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weegee)** > > Arthur (Usher) Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968), known by his pseudonym Weegee, was a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography in New York City. > Weegee worked in Manhattan's Lower East Side as a press photographer during the 1930s and 1940s and developed his signature style by following the city's emergency services and documenting their activity. Much of his work depicted unflinchingly realistic scenes of urban life, crime, injury and ... ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/6 "2024-01-14T23:38:50Z")
That was my first thought. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/7 "2024-01-14T23:41:16Z")
You might go to [Shorpy.com](http://Shorpy.com) and try the search engine. Once you’ve gone down the rabbit hole it’s quite the wonderland ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/8 "2024-01-15T02:38:49Z")
By thread title - me! By OP, [not me]. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/9 "2024-01-15T18:16:11Z")
The one particular photo is black and white. skyscrapers lit up against the night sky, and the shot is taken in winter from what I assume is Central Park. In the foreground is winter vegetation, snow on the ground, and a little trickle of a creek leading off toward the cityscape. It’s like two worlds: the natural world and the man-made world. Kind of eerie, but beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/10 "2024-02-01T15:50:17Z")
I FOUND IT! Adolf Fassbender, born in Germany. Silver gelatin print titled ‘White Night’, 1932. Central Park in the snow at night. Something just mesmerizing about this photo. You can almost hear ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. (He took other pictures, too.) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/11 "2024-02-01T16:13:57Z")
> **[The White Night](https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1806987)** > > From Pictorial Artistry: The Dramatization of the Beautiful in PhotographyChristmas! The Spell of Yuletide everywhere… enhanced a thousand-fold for me by the all-blanketing blizzard. Excitedly, the snowflakes whipped and clung to my face and camera... ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/12 "2024-02-01T18:09:51Z")
Thanks for putting up the picture. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/13 "2024-02-01T18:14:52Z")
Oh, that is a sweet photo! I’m glad you found it. I was going to suggest Alfred Stieglitz, as well, but I would never have landed on Adolf Fassbender, as I had never heard of him before. Will have to check out some of his other work. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/14 "2024-02-01T18:27:43Z")
😍 and I will look up Alfred Stieglitz ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-photographer-of-nyc-at-night/996076/15 "2024-02-01T18:32:17Z")
Yeah, they were part of the same era of photography, it looks like, the pictorialist movement.