Arverne, Low Tide
Karl Struss
Description
As a young man, Karl Struss vacationed with his family in the areas surrounding New York City, including the town of Arverne, located along the south shore of Long Island. In his depiction of a resort featuring a long boardwalk along the Atlantic, Struss used the formal elements of the boardwalk’s piers and the reflections in the water to create a composition of elegant simplicity and atmospheric mood.
Struss' family vacationed in Arverne when he was a youth, a town located on the southern shore of Long Island (near present-day Kennedy Airport). At that time there was a large hotel and extensive boardwalks. Struss made a number of photographs of the boardwalk, sea, beach and sky in the 1910s, including night views.
Carole McNamara, Assistant Director for Collections & Exhibitions
on the occasion of the exhibition New York Observed: The Mythology of the City
(July 13 – September 22, 2003)
Subject Matter:
In this vertically oriented photograph, pedestrians stroll across a boardwalk that is elevated on tall narrow wooden legs above the beaches of Arverne on the south shore of Long Island. The figures and the bridge are silhouetted against the brightly illuminated sky and seascape in the background. The photographer constructed this view while standing on the sandy beach below the boardwalk, while the ocean was at low tide.
Physical Description:
View of a boardwalk elevated above a beach with pedestrians walking above and waves crashing below.
Usage Rights:
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