Union Square and Fourteenth Street

Shahn frequently visited the Union Square and Fourteenth Street district, commonly called the poor man’s Fifth Avenue. Said by the Federal Writers’ Project to belong to the working people of New York, this mecca of retail trade, cheap amusements, and leftist politics posed particular challenges for a photographer. Jostling crowds of shoppers from large department stores such as S. Klein overflowed onto the streets and gathered around vendors and sidewalk entertainers. The headquarters for the Socialist and Communist parties, as well as the radical New Workers’ School and the American Civil Liberties Union, were located in the area and contributed to its chaotic and robust character.

In this bustling neighborhood, Shahn claimed he first recognized the value of photography in recording fleeting details and freezing movement. Attempting to sketch the activity of a group of area musicians, he realized that the adaptable Leica enabled him to move easily and quickly through the crowd and photograph the performers from a variety of angles and perspectives. Many New York artists of the 1930s, most notably Reginald Marsh, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Raphael Soyer, accentuated the congested nature of the Union Square and Fourteenth Street area. Shahn, however, imbued the district with an uncharacteristic visual elegance. He singled out shoppers, vendors, businessmen, office workers, demonstrators, and entertainers, discovering amidst the clamor and density unforgettable individual expressions. Shahn took particular interest in shoppers gazing into tantalizing storefront displays, and he often photographed men and women against window reflections in order to create a more expansive sense of space.

14th Street (New York City), 1932-34  Fogg Art Museum, Gift of Bernarda Bryson Shahn