Portrait of a City review – master photographers capture the US cityscape in all its grime, grit and glory

Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
Era-defining photographs from the likes of Alfred Stieglitz, Saul Leiter and Dorothea Lange showcase the urban landscape, from midnight crime scenes to gloomy corridors

This – only the second photography exhibition in Dulwich Picture Gallery’s history – is a quietly contemplative but gripping show that traces two intersecting developments: the construction of the modern urban environment and the language of photography.

Focusing exclusively on works from era-defining photographers of the 20th century made in cities across the US, it’s a concise overview that begins with the pictorialist pioneers of New York, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen, and keeps moving through masterpieces, starting with early examples of social documentary photography – Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother and White Angel Breadline, and Lewis Hine’s emblematic portrait of the high-steel ironworker Victor “Frenchy” Gosselin working on the construction of the Empire State Building.
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