An Examination of A City

This curation seeks to help us further understand how a photograph can feel so empty when the frame of the picture is so full. Various photographers have depicted cities very similarly over the past 100 years. All of these pictures contain people and cityscapes however; the scenery is not the end of the story. Through these depictions we begin to see how photographers understand how a city operates despite the immediate lack of human presence. We then move to see how photographers depict the emptiness of a place that is so full. They do this by including people but not making the people the focal point. Sometimes we feel the most alone when the most people surround us. The loneliness and emptiness brought out by these images truly show what a challenge life is in a big city. All of these photographs then depict emptiness through lack of people filling the space space. These large buildings and busy streets are captured with a perspective that makes them feel very distant to us. I wish to challenge the viewer to place him or herself in the frame. Try to experience the scene the way the photographer once did in order to understand what drove him or her to take these photographs this way.

Harry Callahan, Chicago, ca. 1953, Gelatin silver print, 20 x 24.6cm, 2000.431.8

Callahan is an American photographer that spends most of his career doing street photography. This particular photo depicts the outskirts of the city alongside a mother and her daughter. The city of Chicago is depicted from a wide angle to show its depth and beauty. The mom and daughter are placed lower in the scene and it is evident that they are in the scene but they are not acting as the focal point. Callahan wants you to first see the scope of the city then lets your eyes pan down to the mom and daughter.

Weng Fen, Sitting on the Wall: Haikou V, ca. 2001, Chromogenic print, 50 x 62.7cm, 2009.539.4

Fen is a part of a generation of photographers in China working to capture the physical, social economical and political changes in the city. Many of Fen’s photographs depict young schoolgirls wearing backpacks looking over a city or street. He uses these girls as subjects but similarly to the other photographs she is not the focal point. China is one of the most populated places on the planet yet Fen’s photographs feel so empty. The city maybe thriving but the emptiness of life shines through in this photograph.

Stephen Shore, New York City, ca. March 23, 1972, Chromogenic print, 1974.602.1

            Shore is an American Photographer that shoots street photography around New York City. This photograph has a slow shutter speed creating blurred images of the cars and the people. Shore is referencing the history of painting with a loose brushstroke to create movement in the image. Instead of experiencing a frozen place in time you experience the movement of the city. The scope of view in this photograph is a much tighter view of the city. Instead of the wide-angle view to depict emptiness he chooses to shoot a tighter shot. He captures a disconnect of people in the image and through these people we experience their empty feeling of life.

Harry Callahan, Eleanor and Barbara, Warehouse District, Chicago, ca. 1953, Gelatin silver print, 19.0 x 24.3, 1994.213.1

Here Callahan chooses to depict his wife and daughter stuck in a snapshot of time. Unlike his other photograph he makes this one much more personal and connects you to the subject. He wants you to experience not only the pain of their life but also the pain of the dying city. Families are not typically depicted in this sense. However, Callahan finds a way for you to feel for his family and in turn you wish to be a part of the frame. One of the most challenging parts of looking at this photograph is seeing the subjects in all of their depth and beauty but not being able to step into the frame to help them.

Lewis Hine, Empire State Building, ca. 1930s, Gelatin silver print, 10.0 x 12.2cm, 1987.1100.325

Hine is a well-established American photographer that is known for shooting ordinary and mundane things with extraordinary scenery surrounding it. This particular photograph was composed in New York City on a high construction crane. Hine captures a worker taking a break to enjoy a cigar. Hine purposely puts the building into focus while the worker is out of focus. This forces the viewer to first look closely at the building first and then the worker. Although a person is present in this photograph, he is not the focal point.