Presented as objective and mechanical representations of ordinary urban life, these “straight” or “pure” photographs were in fact often inflected with other aesthetic and social concerns. In capturing daily city life, some photographers produced abstract and dislocating views of vast urban architecture, while others depicted much more intimate, narrative scenes of abject poverty.
With photographs by Walker Evans, Georgy Zelma, Nathan Lerner, and Paul Strand, among others, this exhibition of works from the Smart Museum of Art collection looks at the modern city as seen from the street.