The German émigré Ernest Nash moved to New York in 1939, where he could pursue his research interest in ancient architecture as well as his career as photographer. Nash started to proceed similarly to his arrival in Rome, which was his first exile stop before New York, photographing buildings that were erected in the style of the European ancient architecture. This topographic strategy can also be seen in his images of the 1939 World’s Fair. From 30 April 1939 to 31 October 1940, the world exhibition was installed at the Flushing Meadows Park in Queens and constituted a very important cultural, artistic, social as well as political event.

After the Great Depression, the slogan of the 1939 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows “Building the World of Tomorrow with the Tools of Today” tried to articulate new technical and industrial achievements which were expressed in futuristic and geometric architectural forms. Besides Ernest Nash, numerous émigrés, such as Swiss-born architect William Lescaze (responsible for the Swiss Pavilion and the Aviation Building) or Lyonel Feininger with his mural for the Marine Transportation Building, Alexander Calder and his Water Balett (Consolidated Edison Company building), as well many other artists and intellectuals, were involved in the World’s Fair. Since Nazi-Germany did not participate with a pavilion, the contribution by emigrants acquired an additional social and political message. On 30 April 1939 – one hundred and fifty years after the inauguration of George Washington, the first president of the United States – ,the New York World’s Fair opened its doors on the grounds of the Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Because the city expected a large number of visitors and tourists, numerous city guides, travelogues, illustrated books as well as a range of commercial publishing media were produced. Therefore, the demand for postcards was also high. The official photographers for the World’s Fair were from the photo studio Underwood&Underwood and the photographer Richard Wurts. One of Wurts’ images was taken as cover for the Official World’s Fair Guide as well as compiled in an independent book published by Stanely Appelbaum in 1977 (Appelbaum 1977).

Other photographers, as it was the case for Ernest Nash, were also attracted by the World’s Fair; photographed the pavilions, new erected buildings, the transportation system as well as of the visitors to the fairgrounds. The symbols of the World’s Fair were the Trylon and Perisphere, where the Themce Center was located. The design by architects Wallace K. Harrison and Jacques-André Fouilhoux consisted in the basic shapes of a triangle and circle. With a height of 185 meters, the Trylon was the tallest building of the Fair. It served not only as an orientation point for visitors, but was also visible from as far away as Manhattan. The Perisphere was 18 stories tall with a diameter around 55 meters. Due to rising costs for the Fair, the two buildings were constructed in gypsum. Ernest Nash also photographed the Trylon and Perisphere, as can be seen in a postcard credited by him. From this postcard as well as another one, which is part of the collection of Fine Arts in Houston, it seems that Nash also received commissions or that he was able to sell his images for this international even as print medium. Thus, the World’s Fair could also be seen as a financial starting point for creating income in exile. Compared to other postcards for the World’s Fair, which were illustrated in colour and of which the New York Historical Society in New York contains a huge collection, the postcard by Ernest Nash was a black and white photograph and was published as rotogravure by the East and West Publishing Company in New York. Also included in the Company’s image repertoire were other emblematic New York buildings as the Grand Central Terminal, the Empire State Building or hotels. Other photographers which can be found in the credits of these postcards are Jimmy Sileno, Ewing Galloway, Morton B. Kelman, and, Samuel H. Gottscho. In photographing on the World’s Fair, Ernest Nash recognized that the monumental landmarks of the World's Fair (Perisphere and Trylon) allude to the Roman Foro Mussolini. At this point already, Nash started to proceed similarly to his arrival in Rome, photographing buildings that were erected in the style of the European ancient architecture.

Many other émigré photographers captured the atmosphere, the pavilions and the architecture of the World’s Fair and were involved in commissions. Heavily influenced by the aesthetics of New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) in Germany, the geometric and futuristic forms of the World’s Fair, the parades, the different architectural styles of the pavilions and the special infrastructure, opened the way to experiment with artistic images. This becomes evident in photographs by the German émigrés Rolf Tietgens or Walter Sanders which were published in a special issue of the U.S. Camera and Life. The photographer Andreas Feininger was especially attracted by the fluorescent night-time lights and created experimental photographs showing highly illuminated buildings. Images by German émigré photographer Carola Gregor were reproduced in the brochure for the Brazilian Pavilion, Pavilhão do Brasil. Feira Mundial de Nova York de 1939. Constructed and planned by the Brazilian architects Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa and interior designed by the German-born architect Paul Lester Wiener, the pavilion can be ascribed to the modern architectural movement of the 1930s. As well as designing such features as lamps and furniture, Wiener also created a special typography for the pavilion and designed the brochure, for which Carola Gregor contributed four images. In addition to showcasing Brazilian life, economy and culture, a garden complete with Amazonian birds was created. Working in the field of animal photography, Carola Gregor photographed two Amazonian birds in the garden of the Brazilian Pavilion. Another émigré photographer specialized in animal photography was Lilo Hess who made the publicity pictures for the animal exhibitor and collector Frank Buck for his “Jungle Camp” show at the World’s Fair (Commire 1973). Postcards and folders related to this show, however, contain no credits for Lilo Hess and it shows, that in the printed media the authorship of the photographers was not very highly appreciated. Ruth Staudinger Rozaffy, a German photographer emigrated to New York, was involved with her images in the publication Women at Work: A Tour among Careers. Published in 1939 by New York Career Tours in cooperation with the New York World’s Fair committee, and representing more than 30 nationalities as well as state and regional professional women’s organisations, the book recounted in text and images the stories of 75 professional women from various fields, who had entered the business world. The five authors were all women and a number of women, including Ruth Staudinger-Rozaffy, were among the contributing photographers, including some familiar names such as Margarete Bourke-White, Berenice Abbot, Therese Bonney, Jackie Martin, Marvin Breckinrige and Elizabeth Hibs (Corley 1939, 62). Today, the book fetches high prices at auctions and in antiquarian bookstores.

Unfortunately, the costs for the World’s Fair were high and the visitors not numerous enough; thus, in 1940, the Fair was forced to declare bankruptcy leaving behind a number of unpaid investors. All buildings and pavilions had to be demolished. Also, the symbols of the World’s Fair – the Tyron and Perisphere – were torn down. This emblematic moment was captured by the emigrated photographer Ruth Bernhard. Taught at the Academy of Art in Berlin in the 1920s, she came to New York in 1927, where she started taking photographs. Using unusual perspectives, she captured scenic ruins like the “Skeleton of the Giant” - the title for one of her pictures. Her images were commissioned by the photo agency Black Star and published in a reportage for The Highway Traveler magazine.

For the next two decades, the exhibition site languished with empty streets and barren plots where the pavilions had formerly stood. In 1963/64, Flushing Meadows once again hosted the World’s Fair. Some of these architectural relicts can be still discovered when walking through the huge terrain of Flushing Meadows. The rest of the former World’s Fair area was to be incorporated into the Queen’s district as a public park; on weekends, the old water basins and infrastructures are frequented by numerous sport enthusiasts.