Percy Loomis Sperr

Percy Loomis Sperr (P.L. Sperr) (1890–1964) was an early 20th century New York City photographer. He is most widely known for his street photography of New York City that was done under contract for the New York Public Library from the early 1920s until the early 1940s.^[1] During those two decades, he took 30,000 to 45,000 photographs of the five boroughs of New York.^[2] His favorite subjects were his home borough of Staten Island and the many harbors of New York.

Percy Loomis Sperr
Percy Loomis Sperr in 1913
Born	1890 Columbus, Ohio, US
Died	1964 (aged 73–74) Staten Island, New York, US
Other names	P.L. Sperr
Alma mater	Oberlin College
Occupation	Photographer
Years active	1923–1942
Employer	New York Public Library

"Unemployment Relief, One Cent Cafeteria" (1939), photograph by Percy Loomis Sperr

References

1. "Percy Loomis Sperr". LI & NY Places that are no more.
2. Blumenthal, Ralph (March 14, 2000). "Take 2: A Photo Archive of City Streets (Published 2000)" – via NYTimes.com.

External links

• Percy Loomis Sperr on Find A Grave
• Smith-Peter, Susan (2021). To See a City: Percy Loomis Sperr and the Total Photographic Documentation of New York City, 1924-45. Blog at the Gotham Center for NYC History, CUNY Graduate Center. https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/lg4t4th8vfvm6xrzgefg5jjje3v0vm