Number 8 Fifth Avenue, on the
far right in the picture, was originally built as a single family home.
Constructed of white Vermont marble, it stood out against the red brick
of its neighbors. When Berenice Abbott made this photograph the white
building had been divided into apartments and named The Marble House.
All cameras tend to flatten out space. The fact that Abbott used a large
format view camera with adjustments that correct for distortion and add
to the flatness of an image give this photograph the feeling of a paper
cut-out or computer graphic. The shadow of a large apartment building
across the street fills the foreground and bright sunlight bounces off
the white marble. The architectural details of the three building faces
stand out in strong black and white contrasts because of the long shadows
created by the morning angle of the sun.
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