László Moholy-Nagy
1929
Pont Transbordeur, Marseilles

Gelatin silver print
23.7 x 17.9 cm (9 5/16 x 7 1/16 ins) (image) 25.3 x 19.2 cm (9 15/16 x 7 9/16 ins) (mount)
 
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2005, Accession Number: 2005.100.298, Rights and Reproduction: © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
 
Curatorial description (Accessed: 29 March 2015)
 
In 1929 Moholy-Nagy traveled to Marseilles, where he photographed the Pont Transbordeur, a steel transporter bridge that was celebrated, like the Eiffel Tower, as an icon of modern construction. Like a number of other avant-garde photographers, including Germaine Krull, Herbert Bayer, and Florence Henri, Moholy-Nagy was fascinated by the dynamic spatial relations of the bridge's crisscrossing steel girders and open spiral staircase. In this photograph, he used the technique of reverse printing to create a bold graphic composition that simultaneously clarifies and transforms the structure of the bridge.
 
LL/58908