Detroit
1942
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 14.92 × 20.16 cm (5 7/8 × 7 15/16 in.) mount: 50.17 × 38.1 cm (19 3/4 × 15 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Stephen G. Stein
Accession Number
2022.146.11
Art Historical Context
Harry Callahan's *Detroit* (1942), a gelatin silver print measuring nearly 15 x 20 cm, captures the essence of his hometown during a pivotal moment in American history. Created early in Callahan's career, this black-and-white photograph exemplifies the sharp clarity and tonal range of the gelatin silver process, a staple medium for mid-20th-century photographers that allowed for exquisite detail and subtle gradations of gray. housed in the National Gallery of Art as a gift from Stephen G. Stein, it viewers into the industrial heartland of the United States. Set against the backdrop of World W...
About the Artist
Harry Callahan
Harry Morey Callahan (1912–1999) was a pioneering American photographer whose self-taught ingenuity transformed everyday scenes into profound visual poetry. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he briefly studied engineering at Michigan State University before working at Chrysler, where he joined the company camera club. In 1938, Callahan took up photography as a hobby, but a 1941 lecture by Ansel Adams ins...