While working in Paris in the 1920s—first as Man Ray’s studio assistant, and then as a successful portrait and fashion photographer—Berenice Abbott discovered the urban photographs of Eugène Atget (whose Untitled (Toupée Shop, Palais Royal) is installed in the previous gallery). Following Atget’s death in 1927, Abbott bought his estate and, after returning to the United States in 1929, reprinted many of the photographer’s compositions. Abbott not only played an instrumental role in saving Atget’s prints and glass-plate negatives from destruction, but also made his work known to many American photographers and collectors. Inspired by Atget’s example, Abbott decided to document the changing fabric of New York; in particular, she wanted to chronicle the older buildings and neighborhoods of the metropolis. Receiving funding from the Federal Art Project (and sponsorship from the Museum of the City of New York), Abbott undertook an ambitious urban photography project between 1935 and 1939, culminating in the publication of ninety-seven photographs in the book Changing New York.