NYC, According to the Camera

[Michaela McGovern]

The photos above demonstrate the work of Camilo Jose Vergara. Not only are his photos visually stunning and extremely high in aesthetic quality, but his work is also very poignant in its portrayal of how time shapes and reshapes the city, keeping it in a constant state of change. Although the above photos represent both a broader and a more culturally/historically significant part of the city, Vergara also has taken photos of smaller, more commonplace spots over the course of many years, depicting how they change. For instance, he could take a picture of an office building and a convenience store in 1988, and in 2011 he takes a picture of the same spot, only now it’s a church.

I also found the work of Margaret Bourke-White intriguing and beautiful. Both of the above photos were taken on top of the Chrysler Building, yet they demonstrate two very different perspectives. I like how the first photo conveys how big, towering, ambitious and formidable just one building in the city is; a number of White’s photos exhibit magnified views of NYC monuments in a similar manner. The second photo pictures Bourke-White herself, perched very precariously on a precipice atop the Chrysler Building. Both her position and the height and depth conveyed by all the skyscrapers in the background illustrate the risk-taking aspect in Bourke-White’s work, which I think is really cool. Not only does this photo depict a striking, multi-dimensional view of the city, but it also conveys the lengths Bourke-White is willing to go to as a photographer and as an artist.

• This topic was modified 9 years ago by Michaela McGovern.

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