Early life
Abbott was born on July 17, 1898, in Springfield, Ohio, and spent much of her childhood in a financially unstable household, which contributed to her independent and determined nature. After her parents divorced, she lived with her mother and eventually settled in Columbus where she attended the Columbus School of Girls. She developed an early desire for art and a desire to leave the Midwest. In 1917, she enrolled at Ohio State University to study journalism, though she left one year later, drawn by the energy of New York City. 
Late Life
In the later years of her career, Abbott continued to explore photography, interpreting it as both an art and science. After completing her famous “Changing New York” project, where she documented the city’s rapid architectural and social transformation during the 1930s, Abbott shifted her attention towards scientific subjects in the 1940s and 1950s, taking striking photographs that displayed physical principles like motion and light. Abbott’s ability to combine her artistic vision with scientific aspects helped redefine the initial ways of photography. She continued to spend much of her later life in Maine, where she photographed the landscape and experimented with photographic processes. Although she faced some financial difficulties as the photographic trends/norms shifted towards other ideas, Abbott remained committed to her documentary approach to photography, choosing to preserve the integrity of real life. Berenice Abbott passed away on December 9th, 1991.
Legacy
Berenice Abbott is not only celebrated for her documentation of New York, but also for her advocacy efforts for photography to be a legitimate art form. Her work embodies the soul of photography as she continues to influence photographers, historians, and scientists. Today her photographs are kept in major museums and photography archives all over the world, ensuring that her vision of progress, structure, and beauty in everyday life remains an important part of photography history.
Check out some of her work:
https://slash-paris.com/en/evenements/changing-new-york-berenice-abbott/sous