Dynamic Symbol, New York World's Fair

This photograph features the Trylon, a 700-foot-tall spike, and the Perisphere, a 200-foot-wide ball. They were both constructed as spectacles for the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Although it may seem like the spike and ball are “photoshopped” in (well before Photoshop existed), they were real. The picture carries with it a sense of Futurism (an early 1900s art movement which focused on speed, technology, machinery and violence) and Suprematism (a contemporary Russian art movement characterized by simple geometric shapes and spiritual purity). The large, forms dominate the space, making the people seem small. The simplicity of the geometric shapes show the potential of photography as a fine art form, at a time when photography was only just beginning to be accepted as such.