National Gallery of Art - The Streets of New York: American Photographs from the Collection, 1938

Image: The Streets of New York: American Photographs from the Collection, 1938–1958

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Exhibition Information

Sid Grossman
American, 1913–1955
Coney Island, 1947–1948
gelatin silver print
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Patrons’ Permanent Fund

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Sid Grossman, a native New Yorker, cofounded the Photo League with Sol Libsohn in 1936, a left-leaning organization that supported photography as an agent of social and political change. While serving with the Army in Panama during World War II, however, Grossman’s photography moved away from social documentary toward a more creative approach.

After his military service, Grossman returned to New York and continued his new artistic trajectory. In the photographs made in Coney Island, Grossman’s tight cropping conveys the vitality of the teenagers who congregated there.

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