Carriage, Central Park
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
New York, United States (photographed)
- Date:
1936 (photographed)
1930s (printed) - Artist/Maker:
Bing, Ilse, born 1899 - died 1998 (photographer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Gelatin-silver print on Agfa Brovira paper
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Ilse Bing Wolff
- Museum number:
E.3052-2004
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H, case X913, shelf H
Ilse Bing (1899-1998) was one of several leading women photographers in the inter-war period. Born into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, she initially pursued an academic career before moving to Paris in 1930 to concentrate on photography. This photograph was taken during a trip to New York in 1936 organised by the author Hendrik Willem Van Loon, who supported Bing. It reveals the influence of photographer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) who she met on this trip and his work 'The Terminal'.
Bing was skilled in photojournalism and developed a distinctive response to New York, to capture the everyday in an unusual way. In this image, the cropped dark outline of the carriage and its driver dominate the composition, and provide a stark contrast to the wispy trees and gentle cityscape in the background.
