Pure and Straight Photography

'New York', Paul Strand, 1917

The image shows 2 figures in the streets covered by the overwhelming shadow of a New York bridge. This photograph is visually typical of pure and straight photography as the majority of the photograph is in focus, showing a wide range of depth of field. Also, the shadowing in the photograph uses a strong contrast, showing the  clear difference between the dark of the shadows and the brightness of the light sections.

Pure and straight photography often tries to display city scenes and the people in relation to modern technology and structures, and I believe that the large shadow of the bridge in relation to the small scale of the people demonstrates this well.

The photographer has taken this photograph from a high view point, meaning that the figures look even smaller in scale compared to the bridge silhouette. It is almost as if Paul Strand was standing on a similar structure, making the full impact on the difference in size visible to the viewer. The composition of the image is interesting as well, as there is a divide between the people and the shadow of the structure which is created by the shadowing of the pavement and the light on the road. This was photographed at a time where large structures and bridges had already been built, so people would have been getting used to seeing them. This is shown by the fact the people are not acknowledging the bridge, but have simply accepted it’s presence and carried on with their conversation.