The essay investigates a detailed study on the ‘first images’, which were made by émigré photographers as Hermann Landshoff, Joseph Breitenbach or Lisette Model after arriving in New York. Following questions are discussed in the context of exile: Can photography serve as visual medium for ameliorating exilic experiences and approaching new homelands and cultural encounters? To what extent do these first pictures of artist émigrés negotiate personal emotions and cultural exchanges? What images of the metropolis do these photographs convey?