Lida Moser Photograph Collection
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Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
Photographs, taken by Lida Moser, documenting the Washington Market area of Lower Manhattan in 1971 and 1978.
Biographical Note
After working in a motion picture studio, doing camera work, sound and film editing, Lida Moser was convinced by a colleague to try still photography. She immediately took to it, enjoying the total control she had over the process.
In 1947, Moser became an assistant in Berenice Abbott's studio, helping to organize a collection of Eugene Atget prints and negatives. After leaving Abbott's studio, Moser photographed for various magazines including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Look. She worked as staff photographer for Playwright's Inc., a Broadway theatre production company, for two years. She worked with realist painter John Koch, photographing him, his work, exhibits and events, from 1954 to 1974. She also wrote several books on photography, created images for book cover art, and worked as photojournalist in several countries, taking photographs for over 60 years.
Arrangement
Lida Moser assigned each photograph a number, which corresponded to a negative in her collection. The photographs are arranged by these assigned numbers.
Scope and Content Note
The Lida Moser Photograph Collection contains thirteen gelatin silver photographic prints, taken in 1971 and 1978 of the former Washington Market area of lower Manhattan, prior to and during the construction of the World Trade Center.
Photographs include views of demolition sites, individual streets, tenements and commercial buildings in the Washington Market district that were affected or demolished during the course of construction. A number of images include views of Greenwich, Washington, Harrison, and other streets, with the World Trade Center towers in various stages of construction in the background. Also included is a single photograph taken by Moser in 1978 from the top of the World Trade Center towers, facing northeast towards Brooklyn and Long Island.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as: Lida Moser Photograph Collection, PR 123, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Provenance
Purchased from the photographer, 2002.