Steel Structure, Emil Otto Hoppé, 1926
gelatin silver print, h 238mm × w 164mm
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© The E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection
This photograph shows nothing but silhouettes: of scaffolding, suspended posts, water reservoirs, and one tiny insignificant figure. This is what construction looks like high up in the air. America’s large-scale industry and skyscrapers were popular subjects for European photographers early on. Hoppé travelled throughout the vast country for the first time in 1919. He returned there regularly, and devoted a book to it in 1927.