In the 1930s and 1940s Bourke-White was one of the most famous and highly paid photographers in the United States. Her work for Fortune magazine and, later, Life, was seen by millions of Americans on a weekly basis. She is best known for sleek and idealized photographs of machine-age industry and architectural icons of the period, such as the Fort Peck Dam.

This photograph and an attached card were used as an announcement for the 1930 opening of Bourke-White’s new studio in the Chrysler Building, another building emblematic of that era. She captured the gleaming top of the Art Deco structure from below and at a sharp angle, isolating it from the fabric of the city and emphasizing its design. Such a treatment emulated the style of Russian constructivist photography, which was just beginning to influence American commercial work at the time.