Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography

Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography traces a century of American urban life through the camera lens, from Alfred Stieglitz's early Modernist visions to Bruce Davidson's immersive Subway photographs of the 1980s. Published to accompany the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, the book brings together works by some of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century, including Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Helen Levitt, Saul Leiter, Garry Winogrand and Bruce Davidson. Across themes of immigration, labour, inequality, counterculture and community, the city emerges as both backdrop and protagonist in the story of modern America. Combining iconic images with new scholarship, the publication explores photography's dual role as artistic expression and social document. AUTHOR: Alexander Moore graduated with a photography degree from Staffordshire University in 2011. After an early career as an award winning photographer, he joined Huxley-Parlour, one of London's leading photography dealerships, where he helped establish a programme of international contemporary exhibitions and authored the catalogue Steve McCurry: Afghanistan (2014). In 2015 he went on to work for the fashion photographer Mario Testino, leading the delivery of museum exhibitions in Berlin, Dubai, New York, Amsterdam, Lima and Copenhagen. He joined Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2018 where he is now Creative Producer. Moore has over fifteen years' experience in art publishing and has edited more than fifty art and photography related titles, including this book. He has curated exhibitions including Unearthed: Photography's Roots at Dulwich Picture Gallery and Afterimage: Sylwia Kowalczyk (2025) at Studies in Photography gallery, Edinburgh, for both of which he also authored the accompanying catalogues. He is the author of Chicago Soul: The Forgotten Photographs of John H. White (October 2026) and the curator of Photo Dalkeith 2027: Focus on Poland. SELLING POINTS: . Published to accompany a major exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, running from July 28 to October 4, 2026 Features iconic works by Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus, Saul Leiter, Bruce Davidson and others . Explores a century of American urban life through photography . Combines documentary, street and fine art photography . Includes new essays and scholarship on twentieth-century American photography 88 colour illustrations