#Lizi at the Highline
The Highline was once a desolate track where railroads ran, but its reconstruction has created an essence of renewal and public freedom, where the city, nature, people, and the track’s history coexist and reminisce together. When taking my photo, I tried to envision how a viewer would feel surrounded by this coexistence. The constant movement of the people contrast with the stillness of the viewer taking the scene in, and the bright greens of the plants blend in with the dull buildings which surround it. The plants brighten the image, making the scene feel more welcoming, and the variety of greens and yellows show the variety of plants which live there, just like the variety of people who cross the structure every day. They also show how it is possible for shapeless, natural beauty to work well together with the squared off grays and browns of human construction. The set of horizontal poles noticeably stretch into the distance, and the straight lines within the piece make it possible to imagine a train running in that very spot, coming straight towards or away from the viewer. The stillness of the structure itself also stands apart from the distortion of the constantly moving people. The entire picture converges to one point in the middle, making the people walking towards it, the plants, and even the structure itself imply that they will continue to coexist in the future. And despite all this movement, the viewer can only stop and stare, trying to grasp the beauty of the Highline. They’re trying to catch this moment in time on their phone, in an effort to relive the experience of walking it later on, but by doing so they’ve stopped focusing on what is happening around them – the daily life surrounding them has become a blur.
I think that you’ve really captured the essence of the movement of NYC in this image, while also exhibiting something unique about it. It’s almost as if the tranquility of the Highline itself is felt while looking at it, which is a feeling that can be difficult to find in such a noisy and busy city. Each aspect of your photograph stands out in its own way, the bright green of the plants, and especially the phone being held up. Admiring the beauty of a location such as the Highline can easily be done through the screen alone, but the way that you described it, as a way to capture the moment and relive it, sheds a lot of light onto the way we look at and analyze art today.