The intrigue and elusiveness of two 1930s photos of New York’s skyscraper skyline

The 20th century skyline of Manhattan—dominated by gleaming, crisply defined skyscrapers like the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building—was a frequent subject for photographers of the 1930s and 1940s.

“New York Skyline Evening Haze,” 1936

But few have the depth and texture of these muted, murky skyline images by Paul J. Woolf: one of the city with the sun descending in the evening, the other during the daytime.

Woolf is a new name to me. Born in England in 1899, he studied photography at the University of California at Berkeley and then began working professionally out of his studio in New York in the 1930s, states the Keith de Lellis Gallery, which exhibited Woolf’s work in 2017.

“City Symphony,” 1935

Taken at different times of the day, both photos seem to present a city shrouded not just in haze but in romance and intrigue. It’s a dreamlike city of shadows, darkness, and pops of light—a stunning New York of unknowable mystery.

The Smithsonian website says that while Woolf maintained his artistic career, he also worked as a clinical social worker. Indeed, a Paul J. Woolf was the director of the Family Service Association in Mount Vernon, New York, per a 1953 newspaper writeup.

Did the hard work of helping families in need influence his artistic vision and direction? It’s another mystery concerning a photographer not as well known as he should be.