Lisette Model (1901 - 1983): REFLETS

REFLECTIONS

In the teeming New York of the 1940s, Lisette Model developed a bold photographic practice, oscillating between urban exploration and formal experimentation. Newly arrived from Europe, she wandered the streets of the metropolis, capturing in her images the frenetic energy of pedestrian movement, shop windows saturated with reflections, the interplay of light on façades, and anonymous figures swallowed by shadow.

An active member of the Photo League, Model combined a critical eye with aesthetic freedom. In her Reflections series, she challenged classical perspective, opting for unconventional angles to reveal the visual and psychological complexity of the city. For her, shop windows became urban stages, condensing within a single frame the bustle of the street, the signs of modernity, and the solitude of human figures. Her work, at the crossroads of European experimental photography and American social documentary, continually questions the viewer’s place within the city.