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A new exhibition featuring work by Peter Hujar, Garry Winogrand, Edward Steichen and more paints a picture of a nation in motion
Making a splash … Divers, East River, 1948, by Arthur Leipzig. Photograph: Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New YorkWed 29 Jul 2026 02.00 EDTLast modified on Wed 29 Jul 2026 02.03 EDT
Riding the Ball High Up on Empire State, c 1930, by Lewis Hine
Portrait of a City brings together more than 100 landmark works by some of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, and showcases how photography has shaped our collective understanding of the American city. The exhibition demonstrates how rapid urban expansion catalysed the camera’s rise as a tool to document changing conditions, presenting a compelling visual account of a nation in motion. Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography is at Dulwich Picture Gallery until 4 October
The Maypole (The Empire State Building) New York, 1932, by Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen photographed the Empire State Building when it was the tallest structure in the world. He shot from the ground using a double exposure that exaggerated the building’s height and compressed its mass into a single, dizzying image. His photograph transforms the skyscraper into spectacle – a feat of scale and modern ambition rendered through photographic artificePhotograph: The Estate of Edward Steichen ARS, NY and DACS, London
Harlem, 1960, by Saul Leiter
Curator Alexander Moore writes: ‘Saul Leiter focused on everyday moments that most people would barely notice. His New York feels quiet and personal, despite being one of the busiest cities in the world. During his lifetime, his pioneering colour photographs remained largely unknown. Today, they are considered among the most accomplished images of New York ever made’Photograph: Saul Leiter
Apartment, Weber Street, Colorado Springs, 1966, by Robert Adams
Robert Adams grew up in Colorado, where long walks, camping trips and close contact with the landscape shaped his way of seeing from an early age. His work attempts to confront the consequences of postwar American expansion and its effects upon the environment and societyPhotograph: Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Richie, 1985, by Peter Hujar
Peter Hujar was openly gay at a time when queer lives were routinely criminalised and marginalised. His photographs focused on artists, lovers and friends from New York’s queer and bohemian communities. In the 1980s, the Aids crisis profoundly shaped Hujar’s life and work. Richie was made during this period of loss and heightened awareness. The photograph carries a sense of private encounter, reflecting a world increasingly lived behind closed doors. Hujar’s work stands as a quiet record of community and endurance in the face of systemic neglect and personal griefPhotograph: Peter Hujar Archive/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York,DACS London
Park Avenue, New York, 1959, by Garry Winogrand
Garry Winogrand was a central figure in the redefinition of American street photography during the postwar decades. Winogrand worked at great speed, producing on average around 600 rolls of film per year, often resulting in tilted horizons and abrupt framing. In 1967 he was placed alongside Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander in New Documents, a landmark exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern ArtPhotograph: The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
New York, 1949, by Rebecca Lepkoff
Alexander Moore: ‘Growing up on the Lower East Side gave Rebecca Lepkoff an intimacy with its streets that few photographers possessed. In this image, the graffiti-covered wall, dramatic afternoon light and quietly self-assured figure create a portrait of postwar New York that feels both deeply human and strikingly modern’ Photograph: Estate of Rebecca Lepkoff, Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York.
New York, 1972, by Helen Levitt
Helen Levitt was born and raised in New York and began photographing the city in her late teens. Largely self-taught, she developed her practice while moving through neighbourhoods she knew intimately, particularly Harlem and the Lower East Side. Levitt was interested in capturing people as they inhabit their own worlds within the shared space of the streetPhotograph: Film Document LLC, courtesy Zander Galerie, Cologne Paris
Divers, East River, 1948, by Arthur Leipzig
Arthur Leipzig was a Brooklyn–born photographer whose work focused on everyday life in the city during the 1930s–50s. He was a member of the influential Photo League. This image captures a moment of play set against the city’s infrastructure, reflecting how young New Yorkers claimed the river’s edge as a space of freedom within the modern cityPhotograph: Estate of Arthur Leipzig, Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, California, 1987, by Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark is celebrated for her work in photojournalism and long-form documentary projects and was widely published in magazines including Life, Rolling Stone and the New Yorker. This photograph was made as part of a series on homelessness in the United States. Mark’s close framing emphasises the conditions of daily life without separating the subjects from their environmentPhotograph: Courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation
42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, 1929, by Walker Evans
Walker Evans occupies a central place in American photography because he redefined how the modern city could be seen. Working during the Great Depression, Evans applied a detached approach to document urban and rural America. Evans’s landmark book American Photographs (1938), which featured this photograph, defined the photobook as a genrePhotograph: Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Nomads of America (Oakies on Their Way West), 1936, by John Gutmann
John Gutmann brought with him a visual sensibility shaped by Bauhaus-influenced ideas. This photograph depicts migrants from the Great Plains who travelled west from states such as Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri in search of work during the Great Depression. Gutmann also photographed leisure and street life, examining American culture from a different perspective. All works in the exhibition have been lent by The Savings Bank Foundation DNB, on deposit to Lillehammer Art Museum/Drammens Museum. Words by Dulwich Picture GalleryPhotograph: Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of RegentsExplore more on these topics
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