Sandstorm, New York City
1949
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet/mount: 25.9 × 33.9 cm (10 3/16 × 13 3/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mary Engel/Ruth Orkin Photo Archive
Accession Number
2021.51.3
Art Historical Context
**Sandstorm, New York City** (1949) by Ruth Orkin captures a dramatic moment in the heart of postwar New York, where an unexpected sandstorm transforms the urban landscape. Printed as a gelatin silver print—a classic black-and-white photographic process prized for its rich tonal range and sharp detail—this 25.9 × 33.9 cm image exemplifies mid-20th-century street photography. Orkin, a pioneering female photojournalist, seized fleeting urban phenomena, turning everyday chaos into visual poetry. The photograph evokes 1949 New York: a booming metropolis still buzzing from World War II's end, now ...