Construction Workers on Crossbeam, 1932

As a follow up to Friday’s photo post, I’d like to share some of my favorite moments of NYC’s history captured on film.

If you’re thinking of something to hang on your wall and not worried about investment value, the Library of Congress is a great resource, as I mentioned in the last post. The NY Times Store also sells fiber based prints starting at under $200.

There was a time I thought I was the reincarnation of Weegee. To this day, he’s on my top 3 photographers list. His images captured the raw, “naked” streets of NYC during the 40’s. Arthur Fellig got the name Weegee (Ouija) due to his arrival on the scene moments after the tragedy occurred. His car was equipped with a police scanner and darkroom. Some say Weegee’s pictures were set up. “The Critic”, above, was actually a set up. Weegee got the broad on the right drunk at a Bowery bar and set her loose on the two society dames. It was planned but it wasn’t posed.

This gal is brave! Although Margaret Bourke-White is the one credited with this image (that’s her atop the Chrysler), it was her assistant, Oscar Graubner who snapped the shot. But MBW was no slouch. The premier issue of Life magazine featured one of her images. She was also the first western photographer to go to the Soviet Union.

Erwitt is alive and well and (I think) still living in NYC. He’s the guy with all of those dog images. Probably his most famous one is the little Chihuahua at the feet of a Great Dane. “NY Pug” is more of a NY stoop scene that it is about the dogs, which is why I chose it for both this post and my wall. Yeah, it was one of my splurges.

The Flatiron is by far my favorite building in NYC. And this Edward Steichen photo, shot in 1904 is my favorite image of it. Steichen added color to the platinum print by using layers of pigment suspended in a light-sensitive solution of gum arabic and potassium bichromate. Take that, you digital photographers! If I ever develop the time or patience, I would love to take a course in old printing methods.

Gordon Parks died about 2 years ago at the age of 93. He grew up in a poverty stricken home in segregated Kansas and went on to become an award winning photographer, writer and film maker, paving the way for other African American artists. He was the first black photographer at Life magazine. FYI, Did you know he directed “Shaft“?

This image, taken in 1948, features sixteen-year-old Red Jackson, the leader of one of the toughest gangs in New York. After gaining the trust of the Harlem gang, Parks spent some time photographing them. Forty years later, Parks ran into Jackson at Penn Station. What happened? Ah, you have to read his book to find out.

Ok, the tour ends here. I have so many more, but I can be here for weeks. Let me know if this is of interest to you. If not, I’ll stop boring you with it.