From 1906 to 1934, Eugene de Salignac shot over 20,000 stunning 8x10-inch glass-plate negatives of New York City.
Eugene de Salignac (1861–1943) was an American photographer who worked for the Department of Bridges/Plant and Structures in New York City. Born in Boston in 1861 into an eccentric family of exiled French nobility, de Salignac had no formal training in photography. In 1903, at the age of 42, his brother-in-law found him a job as an assistant to the photographer for the Department of Bridges, Joseph Palmer. After 3 years of apprenticeship, Palmer suddenly died, and in October 1906, de Salignac assumed his duties.
As the sole photographer for the department from 1906 to 1934, he documented the creation of the city's modern infrastructure—including bridges, major municipal buildings, roads and subways. Most notably, he documented the construction of the Manhattan Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge, and the Manhattan Municipal Building but his most famous image is that of painters posing nonchalantly on the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge. Using a large-format camera and 8x10 inch glass-plate negatives, he shot over 20,000 images in his career. Most of these negatives and over 15,000 vintage prints are held by the New York City Municipal Archives. Into his 70s de Salignac was still climbing bridges and actively working, but he was forced to retire in 1934 despite a petition to Mayor La Guardia.
In his lifetime de Salignac's work was little seen outside of New York City government, and his name was forgotten after his death in 1943. His images were rediscovered in the 1980s, but it was not until 1999 that an archivist realized the collection was mostly the work of one man. In 2007, Aperture published New York Rises, the first monograph of his work, which became a traveling exhibition that opened at the Museum of the City of New York. Since then, his photographs have been widely reproduced and are part of a growing interest inFrom 1906 to 1934, Eugene de Salignac shot over 20,000 stunning 8x10-inch glass-plate negatives of New York City. industrial photography that has been left out of the traditional photography canon. [via Wiki]
A massive "W" in the Kent Avenue yard of the Williamsburg Bridge. The 20-foot "W", part of a giant "WSS", was placed on a tower on March 20, 1918. WSS stands for "War Savings Stamps." Letters were erected on the south side of the Manhattan tower during World War I.
The ferry President Roosevelt at the Staten Island Municipal Ferry Terminal, June 8, 1924
The ferry President Roosevelt at the Staten Island Municipal Ferry Terminal, June 8, 1924
View of the Brooklyn Bridge, looking east, taken on May 6
New York City municipal worker, took 20,000 photographs of modern Manhattan in the making—including this one of the William Street subway cut on November 19, 1928.
A view from the Williamsburg Bridge shows congested traffic in Manhattan on January 29, 1923.
A motorman operates a trolley cars near Williamsburg Bridge, on September 25, 1924. Signs advertise almonds, cold remedies, mustard, and stove polish.
Eugene de Salignac (1861–1943) was an American photographer who worked for the Department of Bridges/Plant and Structures in New York City. Born in Boston in 1861 into an eccentric family of exiled French nobility, de Salignac had no formal training in photography. In 1903, at the age of 42, his brother-in-law found him a job as an assistant to the photographer for the Department of Bridges, Joseph Palmer. After 3 years of apprenticeship, Palmer suddenly died, and in October 1906, de Salignac assumed his duties.
As the sole photographer for the department from 1906 to 1934, he documented the creation of the city's modern infrastructure—including bridges, major municipal buildings, roads and subways. Most notably, he documented the construction of the Manhattan Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge, and the Manhattan Municipal Building but his most famous image is that of painters posing nonchalantly on the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge. Using a large-format camera and 8x10 inch glass-plate negatives, he shot over 20,000 images in his career. Most of these negatives and over 15,000 vintage prints are held by the New York City Municipal Archives. Into his 70s de Salignac was still climbing bridges and actively working, but he was forced to retire in 1934 despite a petition to Mayor La Guardia.
In his lifetime de Salignac's work was little seen outside of New York City government, and his name was forgotten after his death in 1943. His images were rediscovered in the 1980s, but it was not until 1999 that an archivist realized the collection was mostly the work of one man. In 2007, Aperture published New York Rises, the first monograph of his work, which became a traveling exhibition that opened at the Museum of the City of New York. Since then, his photographs have been widely reproduced and are part of a growing interest inFrom 1906 to 1934, Eugene de Salignac shot over 20,000 stunning 8x10-inch glass-plate negatives of New York City. industrial photography that has been left out of the traditional photography canon. [via Wiki]
Painters on the Brooklyn Bridge, 1914
© Eugene De Salignac
View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, on April 24, 1933.
View from the roof of a shanty looking East, showing 3:50 PM congestion on the South footwalk of the Queensboro Bridge, on April 11, 1909. The bridge opened to traffic on March 30, 1909.
Interior view of Brooklyn Bridge station, on April 6, 1907.
Queensboro Bridge under construction, on August 8, 1907
Brooklyn Bridge painters at work high above the city, on December 3, 1915
Manhattan Bridge, under-construction, seen from the roof of Robert Gair Building, showing suspenders and saddles, on February 11, 1909.
Municipal Lodging House, Department of Public Welfare, East 25th Street, November 22, 1930
Workers dig up the roadway on the north side of Delancey Street on July 29, 1908.
Municipal Lodging House - a 1909 Home for the Homelesswith 964 beds, November 22, 1930.
The six-story Municipal Lodging House was built from 1905 to 1909 on 25th Street between First Avenue and the East River, Manhattan.
103 Clinton Street, July 27, 1908.
A one-legged newspaper boy and other “newsies”, on Delancey Street, on December 26, 1906.
Bridge Pier, Rockaway Point, July 29, 1920
Pearl Street, NYC, 1911
© Eugene De Salignac
Workers on the Williamsburg Bridge Caisson No. 2, October 14, 1911
The Brooklyn Bridge on its fiftieth anniversary, from the Manhattan Bridge, May 24, 1933.
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