Discover 100 years of American photography in London

‘Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery traces the eventful journey to a modern USA

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photography of america in the twentieth century
Helen Levitt, New York, 1972
(Image credit: © Film Document LLC, courtesy Zander Galerie, Cologne/Paris)

America in the early 1900s was in a state of flux. A slow transition away from the country’s agricultural foundations and a movement towards an industrial, modern world were triggering seismic changes.

photography of america in the twentieth century

Mary Ellen Mark, The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, California 1987

(Image credit: © Mary Ellen Mark, Courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation)

Thanks to parallel developments in photography, it is a cultural shift heavily documented, and one that's at the heart of Dulwich Picture Gallery’s new exhibition, ‘Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography’ (until 4 October 2026). Beginning in the early 20th century, when – thanks to the camera becoming a more affordable purchase for families – photography was becoming more democratic, the exhibition unites 38 of the era’s leading photographers, who capture the USA’s tumultuous volatility.

photography of america in the twentieth century

Arthur Leipzig, Divers, East River, 1948

(Image credit: © Estate of Arthur Leipzig, Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York)

Tracing a chronological path through the century, the exhibition begins with Alfred Stieglitz’s The Steerage, an image that captured the sharp inequalities of class through the divide on an ocean liner. The reverberations from the Wall Street Crash in 1929 can be felt in important works by Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke‑White, who documented the devastating effects of mass unemployment and the debilitating poverty of the Great Depression that followed.

photography of america in the twentieth century

Walker Evans, 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, 1929

(Image credit: © Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1))

The physical space of the city takes shape in a multitude of ways, with photographers including Berenice Abbott, Arthur Leipzig and Ed Ruscha considering the architecture of the city itself, from the skyline to how the forms of the buildings and open spaces adapted to accommodate new demands in work and leisure. On the streets, Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander turn their lens to people creating new ways to live, while Peter Hujar documents the communities ravaged by AIDS.

photography of america in the twentieth century

Lewis Hine, Riding the Ball High up on Empire State, c.1930

(Image credit: Lewis Hine, Riding the Ball High up on Empire State, c.1930. Gelatin silver print.)

‘American photography offers one of the most vivid and influential records of the modern city,’ says Alexander Moore, exhibition curator and creative producer at Dulwich Picture Gallery. ‘By bringing this remarkable collection to London, we invite audiences to reflect on how the rhythms, challenges and possibilities of urban life continue to echo through our own – a century of human stories told with extraordinary immediacy and invention.’

‘Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography’ is at Dulwich Picture Gallery until 4 October 2026. Presented in partnership with Savings Bank Foundation DNB and created in collaboration with Lillehammer Art Museum

photography of america in the twentieth century

Rebecca Lepkoff, New York, 1949

(Image credit: © Estate of Rebecca Lepkoff, Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York.)

photography of america in the twentieth century

Saul Leiter, Harlem, 1960

(Image credit: © Saul Leiter Foundation)
Hannah Silver
Hannah Silver

Hannah Silver is a writer, editor and author with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.