Through my photograph I attempt to examine and portray the phenomenon of both popular culture and urbanity’s affect on the creative mind.
New York City or Gotham City?
What began as a personal day of exploring – as I always do, – quickly morphed into a lapse of time that contained a sudden moment of creative realization when I glanced at the New York City skyline from The Brooklyn Heights Promenade and saw Gotham City, the metropolitan of Batman. This moment did not last long in reality – for only a few seconds or possibly a minute – but it will last forever, metaphorically speaking, thanks to my HTC Radar Windows Phone.
Living in Brooklyn Heights, I often venture to The Promenade, – whether walking or running – to view the dazzling skyline of New York City. Urbanity can simply be defined as “urban life;” however, to the creative thinker and attentive observer, it is much more than that. To those, urbanity is an art composed of all of the intricacies of urban life. The art is that cities are constantly changing and evolving, every minute and every second. Regardless of interior or exterior forces, the city is a place that never ceases to morph into something new instant by instant.
This moment, when I was standing on The Promenade having an epiphany of the brief resemblance between my view and the scenery of Batman, is an example of the art of urbanity. I have seen the skyline on many occasions; – at different times of the day and during varying weather conditions – yet, only once have I seen the city appear as it did in this photograph, and never again will it look exactly the same as the photo depicts, for the city is constantly changing, due to outer and inner forces. For example, the chances of the clouds having the same values, textures, depths, and positioning as they do in this photo is exceedingly unlikely.
The fact that the clouds and the gloominess they generated were what caused my mental connection between my view and that of Gotham City proves the unfavorable odds of that exact image, and possibly even resemblance, ever being produced again. The setting of the sun, in addition to the clouds, added to the overall hue of the sky, and thus the mood it gave off to the viewer – and continues to give off in my snapshot.
Internally, the odds that the same office and apartment lights, that are on in the photo, will be on at the exact same time in the future – without any added office or apartment lights – is also particularly unlikely. The Freedom Tower – which is still undergoing erection – does not look the same today as it has any other day, and neither will it tomorrow, for they are constantly building it up, adding to it; and thus, changing its overall appearance daily. The bottom of the photograph, which shows the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, changes every day as well.
Never again, in reality, will the New York City skyline from The Brooklyn Heights Promenade ever look precisely as it does in the photograph; – there are too many changing variables, thanks to urbanity – but, through art, the image has been captured, and will incessantly be present figuratively. This is the art of photography and urbanity working hand-in-hand. Photography allows us to capture the beauty of brief moments that urbanity brings to life for only a short time, and permits us to then be able to hold onto these momentary memories – that will inevitably be lost, psychologically speaking, at some point – for as long as the photograph lives.
If the popular culture of Batman did not exist neither would my photograph, for the main reason for my capturing that precise moment was because of the resemblance the scenery had to that of Gotham City. Those with a creative mind and knowledge of Batman might just make the same resemblance between the view in my photograph and the one from the piece of popular culture.
New York City or Gotham City?
This is art – capturing a moment in time that would have otherwise disappeared forever, its beauty and memory included.
