At the Harbor (Am Hafen)

The harbor in Hamburg, Germany, has long been one of busiest in the world, but not in Ernst Odefey’s print. A Hamburg native, Odefey presented a modern, unromanticized view of the Elbe River, reducing the scene to a few simple elements: pilings, a tugboat, and a metal cleat (for tying up boats). To emphasize the empty stretch of water at the center, he raised the horizon line, even though, from our vantage point on the quay, it logically would have been much lower.