moma:

Edward Steichen’s “The Maypole (Empire State Building)”

Edward Steichen was born on this day in 1879. In addition to being a photographer himself, Steichen was Director of MoMA’s Department of Photography and curated the museum’s popular exhibition The Family of Man. Steichen took this photo of the Empire State Building a year after its construction ended, and used two separate negatives to create the photograph’s dizzying effect.

[Edward Steichen. The Maypole (Empire State Building). 1932. Gelatin silver print. Gift of the photographer. © 2017 The Estate of Edward Steichen/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.]