Bernice Abbott

Bernice Abbot was born in Springfield, Ohio and attended Ohio State University. In 1918 she moved to New York to leave college and meet up with friends and family. Later, Abbott moved once again to Montparnasse, France where she would have her first major incounter with photography. Within the span of one year in France she nearly died from the Spanish flu epidemic hitting the area. She started as a darkroom assistant to Man Ray in 1923, and found a new inspiration in photography called Eugene Atget. Abbott managed to go off and buy whatever negatives were left from Atget's collection and published multiple books on his photos. Abbott can easily be considered the main reason for Atget's fame today. In early 1929 Abbott went back to New York for a visit, and came to realize the value of the town to a photographer and his/her career. In 1958 Abbott took multiple pictures for a high school physics text book. Most of these pictures are very famous and still depicted today. After living many full years in New York Abbott was advised to move from the city due to its high amount of air pollution. She bought a cabin in Maine where she resided until her eventual death in 1991.


Bernice Abbott






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James Joyce, 1928