The skyline of New York is a monument, an outward symbol of an aggressive and once confident people, a technological achievement that is matchless in the history of the human race. George H. Douglas, Skyscrapers: A Social History of the Very Tall Building in America
This photograph shows the construction of the then-Vanderbilt Hotel. It portrays the constantly-changing New York cityscape. There is a clear difference between the average, 4-story buildings along Park Avenue and the structure that will soon be the hotel. It towers above its surroundings and forces passersby to notice it. This photograph is important because it represents the increase in height of our city’s skyline over time. The standard of the normal height for construction has drastically changed. Developers are always aiming to make the next structure taller than the previous one. Walking down this same avenue today, that building does not look as great and overpowering as it does here. Every other establishment in the vicinity has also grown over the years to match its height, and one would never think that 4 Park Avenue once stood out among the rest. You would barely acknowledge the building that appears so massive in this photograph. In this photograph, Stieglitz made the building look even taller by having it in the background. Even though it is the focus of the photograph, it is the furthest object from the camera which makes it look like a mountain in the distance.
