Berenice Abbott and the scientific form

A discussion of the scientific photographs taken by Berenice
Abbott (USA, 1898) between 1939 and 1961. Abbot is mainly known
for her photographic portraits and architectural pictures of New
York in the 20's and 30's. In a personal quest ""to understand
or appreciate the knowledge which controls daily life'' Abbott
stumbled on the fact that the (infrequent) illustrations in
scientific textbooks were of inferior quality. She developed new
methods and techniques, and refined older ones. Commercial
aspirations to publish these pictures failed. A sudden change
occurred in 1956 when the Russians launched Sputnik. An American
Committee demanded that better educational material should be
published, and Abbott was able to publish and exhibit
abundantly. Philosophical notes on the relation between science
and realistic photography conclude this article. (Dutch/English)


Citaten:
Langer, S.: Philosophy in a new key (1942)