In doing my Atlantic City project, I did a lot of combing the internet to find the quotes that are placed adjacent to the images in the book. I read several historical books about the city, watched videos and films, and looked for photographers who had covered the subject. I came across several but missed the work of Arthur Nager who photographed Atlantic City in 1972 when the city was at its lowest point. He reached out to me recently, and I want to call attention to his stunning images of Atlantic City.

© Arthur Nager

In 1972 Atlantic City was a desolate urban landscape. White middle-class residents had fled, and tourists had lots of other options on the Jersey Shore. The state of New Jersey voted to legalize gambling in Atlantic City 1976, and the first casino, Resorts Casino Hotel, opened in 1978. The Louis Malle film, Atlantic City, vividly inhabits that period of time, the twilight between the old Atlantic City of crumbling hotels, boarding houses and small-time gangsters, and the new glitzy Atlantic City of mega-casinos and a different scale of crime brought by predators like Donald Trump.

© Arthur Nager

© Arthur Nager

Go to Arthur Nager’s website and see the whole series. And while you’re there look at his other work — a whole career of urban landscape projects.

Although it has been 38 years since Nager photographed Atlantic City, and the skyline of the city has been transformed, there are a number of prominent buildings still standing like Boardwalk Hall seen above, or The Claridge Hotel, its cupola seen in the distance.

And we even managed to photograph the same modest hotel from nearly the same viewpoint.

© Arthur Nager

© Brian Rose