Berlijn

Eva Besnyö’s empty black-and-white photograph was taken during the Hungarian artist’s stay in Berlin. This photograph is typical of Besnyö’s work from the thirties in the strong diagonals of the intersection and the bird’s eye view perspective. The long shadows resulting from the low angle of the sun and their elongation of the figures combined with the aerial viewpoint abstracts the street scene. The strong geometric shapes in the sidewalk and street sign add to the abstraction. Besnyö stated that she fully developed as a professional photographer in Berlin and it was one of the most important periods in her life. The eerie deserted street takes on a frightening quality knowing that at the same time Hitler was gaining power. Besnyö, a Jew, knew that she had no choice but to leave Germany. By October 1932 she left the country for the Netherlands.