NEW YORK, NY.- London Street Photography, an exhibition created by the Museum of London, traveled to the Museum of the City of New York opening alongside a smaller new companion exhibition City Scenes: Highlights of New York Street Photography. Both exhibitions coincide with the the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

First on display at the Museum of London in 2010, London Street Photography, has attracted over 125,000 visitors, making it the Museum’s most popular temporary exhibition to date. The exhibition showcases more than 138 images taken between 1860 and 2010 by over 50 photographers who have recorded fleeting London moments, capturing ordinary people in an ever-changing metropolis. It traces two compelling histories: the development of the practice, aesthetics and technology of street photography over 150 years, and the simultaneous growth of a modern city.

Organized chronologically, the photographs capture the change from Victorian city of pushcarts to the multicultural city of immigrants in the 21st century; changing modes of transportation from horse and carriage to double-decker buses to stretch limousines; and a kaleidoscope of public places from markets to squares and neighborhoods of every type. The people depicted include the fashionable and the down-and-out, the immigrant and the street urchin, and people of every ethnicity, all linked by the implicitly democratic medium of photography.

London Street Photography, examines the photographers’ motives and the broader social and culture contexts in which they worked. Each photograph embodies the element of chance that defines street photography. Every piece comes alive with a sense of spontaneity and movement, capturing a sudden expression, a brief encounter or a momentary juxtaposition.

Notable photographers such as John Thompson, László Moholy-Nagy, George Rodger, Bert Hardy, Roger Mayne and Nick Turpin are featured, as well as numerous anonymous photographers whose contributions have been just as important in recording the story of the English capital. The exhibition includes a revealing film in which four street photographers from different generations – Wolfgang Suschitzky, Paul Trevor, Matt Stuart and Polly Braden – reflect on their work.

Susan Henshaw Jones, Ronay Menschel Director of the Museum said, “We welcome the Museum of London’s fantastic collection of London Street photography to the Museum of the City of New York. This exhibition will give New Yorkers a vivid look into the evolution of one of the world’s other great metropolises through spontaneous moments -- some intimate, some grand -- captured on its streets.”

David Spence, Interim Director of the Museum of London, said, “I am thrilled that the Museum of the City of New York will exhibit London Street Photography, especially during this important year for London as it hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games. What better time then for New Yorkers to be able to glimpse into the everyday lives of Londoners from 1860 to the present day through these fascinating photographs.”

The rich tradition of street photography in New York City is demonstrated in a smaller companion exhibition titled City Scenes: Highlights of New York Street Photography, showcasing approximately 40 works from 1888 to 2002. Iconic New York City street photographs are on display, including Paul Strand’s Wall Street, New York (1915), Robert Frank’s 34th Street (1951) and Diane Arbus’ Couple Arguing, Coney Island, NY (1960). The exhibition, which also features works by Jacob Riis, Berenice Abbot, Helen Levitt, William Klein, Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and others, offers a compelling mix of sweeping cityscapes, candid portraits and personal interactions.

Susan Henshaw Jones added, “By presenting images from New York’s streets alongside street photography from its English sister city, we are giving visitors a unique opportunity to compare the ways in which both great cities have evolved since the 19th century. These exhibitions also offer an enthralling juxtaposition of the similarities and differences in subject matter and style by photographers working simultaneously thousands of miles apart in major western metropolises.”

Both exhibitions will close on December 2, 2012.