Eiffel Tower

Moholy-Nagy took this image of the Eiffel Tower, one of his earliest datable photographs, during his first trip to Paris. He chose a closely cropped view, looking into the massive structure through one of the legs, and focused on a tangled network of steel in the foreground that blocks the eye from entering the structure’s orderly spatial recession. The image emphasizes the crisscrossing lines of the steel construction and the sharp contrast of light and shadow.

Moholy-Nagy’s conscious departure from the more familiar views of this landmark structure was in accord with his belief that the function of photography was to expand the viewer’s appreciation of space.