18-MAR-2009
Near Ground Zero, New York City, New York, 2009
Eight years after the destruction of the World Trade Center, the work continues on its replacement and on the development of the surrounding neighborhood. I caught a glimpse of a reflected façade through the trees not far from Ground Zero itself – it seemed to be floating in space, almost as if in a dream. My photograph of this reflection reaffirms the prevailing sentiment in this city – move on but never forget what happened here on September 11, 2001. The façade may be surrounded in darkness, yet its reflection is full of promise.
18-MAR-2009
Windows of light, New York City, New York, 2009
Morning light, bathing the skyscrapers along Manhattan’s lower Broadway in gold, is reflected in the windows of this 19th century building near City Hall Park. The classical statuary adds a dignified context to the twisted reflections in the old glass windows.
18-MAR-2009
Wall Street, New York City, New York, 2009
The intersection of Wall and Broad Streets in lower Manhattan is one of the most historic corners in the city. The site of George Washington’s first inaugural, the New York Stock Exchange, and the 1920 Wall Street bombing, the corner is a magnet for tourism. I try to express some of the turbulent activity, including the ever-present photographers, here in this early morning image. The man walking through a plume of steam, with the former J.P. Morgan building in the background, anchors my photograph. Thirty-eight people were killed in the 1920 bombing and the Morgan building was heavily damaged. Today, heavy steel gates secure the area, and the Morgan building is being converted to luxury condos.
18-MAR-2009
Pediment, New York Stock Exchange, New York City, New York, 2009
The current home of the New York Stock Exchange was opened in 1903. Its pediment features a massive marble sculpture by John Quincy Adams Ward called “Integrity Protecting the Works of Man,” – an ironic title when seen in the context of Bernard Madoff's ruinous Ponzi scam. I abstract Ward’s work, honing it down to just the two laboring figures at the far corner of his busy eleven figure sculpture complex. This enabled me to build the image around the diagonal frame that crowns the pediment of the Stock Exchange. A faint trace of safety netting can be seen covering the bodies, no doubt installed to protect pedestrians below from the potentially dangerous effects of weathering on the 106 year old sculptures.
18-MAR-2009
Restoration, New York City, New York, 2009
New York treasures its past, and is constantly restoring its vast collection of 19th and early 20th century buildings. This gathering of decorative sculptures grace a vintage building near the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge. The dignitaries of the past seem at home within the scaffolding enveloping their once elegant home.
19-MAR-2009
At work near Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York, 2009
I found this man building a scaffold on Park Avenue, a few blocks from Grand Central Terminal. By focusing on the man and his work, I emphasize his confident attitude. I use the softly focused terminal, and the MetLife building rising behind it, as background context.
19-MAR-2009
Morning rush, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York, 2009
The gesturing commuter appears to be leading the morning charge across the marble floor of the great station. I intensify the speed of the action by using a slow shutter speed ( 1/15th of a second) and moving the camera slowly from right to left as I made the picture. This technique is called panning – it retains detail in some of the figures, yet blurs it in others. I converted the image to black and white to give the image a less realistic, more symbolic form. The original colors in this image played no part in my message.
19-MAR-2009
Conference, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York, 2009
Transportation provides the arterial system of a great city, and in the case of New York, Grand Central would be its metaphorical heart. Over 125,000 commuters enter and leave Manhattan each working day through this concourse. An astounding half million people visit the Terminal each day. They support over 100 businesses, among them a restaurant on the balcony of the Main Concourse known as Metrazur. Over 10,000 meals are consumed in the terminal daily, and Metrazur’s management and staff must be ready to serve its share of them. Three of those staff members were having a conference in front of the restaurant before it opened for lunch, and I photographed them from a balcony across the concourse with a long telephoto lens. I include a towering window as context, which is large enough to contain a series of walkways. A person was crossing on one of them, and I caught him just as he passed high over the heads of the conferring restaurant staff.
23-MAR-2009
125th Street Subway Station, New York City, New York, 2009
The New York subway system has 468 stations, the largest number of public transit subway stations for any system in the world. More than five million people take its trains on weekdays, and in this shot, I find three of them ascending to Broadway-Seventh Avenue Local’s elevated platform at 125th Street, near Riverside Park. The light passing through the windows abstracts the figures and illuminates the graffiti that decorates so much of New York City.
18-MAR-2009
33rd Street Subway Station, New York City, New York, 2009
The New York subway system’s annual ridership is one and half billion, ranking it behind Tokyo, Moscow, and Seoul, but ahead of Mexico City, Paris, and London. It is quickest and cheapest way, short of walking, to get around the city. With more than 6,000 subway cars in service, trains can run a few minutes apart at peak times. Here three people are waiting for a Lexington Avenue local at 33rd Street. I waited for another train to rush through the background, creating a blur of silver. Since the destruction of the World Trade Center, an American flag appears on every NYC subway car. The flags are always kept illuminated, even when off duty.
23-MAR-2009
Subway reader, New York City, New York, 2009
Like any commute, a subway journey quickly becomes routine. This man appears to be engrossed in his reading, unaware of everything else around him, including the figure in the advertisement just above him. I converted the image to black and while because it makes it timeless, and universal. Surrounded by stainless steel, still bundled against the cold, he retreats into his book.
19-MAR-2009
Bryant Park, New York City, New York, 2009
Located just behind New York’s Public Library, Bryant Park is now privately funded and managed. After falling into disrepute, the park has been renovated and now offers thousands of nature starved office workers a place to picnic every day. I found this woman enjoying a sandwich, while being watched all the while by a bronze version of the writer Gertrude Stein.