City shell
1938; printed 1972
Medium
gelatin silver photograph
Measurements
34.4 × 25.1 cm (image and sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2022
© The Barbara Morgan Estate
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
For Barbara Morgan, photomontage allowed her to ‘rearrange realities’. Through surreal visual juxtapositions, her works probe the ideas of time and space, and the tensions between movement and stasis, organic and inorganic, masculine and feminine. In this image, Morgan positions five solitary commuters on the winding path of a bright white seashell, their silhouettes echoing the dark void beyond. By placing the shell upon the slanted facade of a skyscraper, Morgan contrasts the natural world with fast-paced industrialisation, reinforced by the repeated lineation of the building and the perpetual pedestrian march.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Scarsdale, New York, United States
Inscription
inscribed in pencil on support l.r.: Barbara Morgan – 1938
inscribed in pencil on support l.l.: CITY SHELL
inscribed in ballpoint pen on support reverse c.: CITY SHELL – 1938 (photomontage) (all underlined) / Barbara Morgan
inscribed in ballpoint pen on support reverse c.r.: Archivally Printed – 1972 (all underlined) / B(…illeg.)
Accession Number
2022.784
Department
International Photography