Through contrasting tones Daguerre seeks to capture a detailed boulevard scene, as the epic grandeur of the flatiron is displayed by steichen through depth and muted color, Kertész restructures the mundane into an obscure reality, while all place the human form against the symmetrical lines of its own creation. Daguerre’s desires to create a perfectly realistic image pushed him to invent the daguerreotype, allowing him to permanently save an image on a plate. Steichen, as a pictorialist, aimed to photograph the power and importance of New York’s industrial architecture, while also applying his artistic ability to manipulate the gel coloring. In pursuance of the new vision, Kertész seeks to obscure reality by removing depth with straight photography.
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The earliest of the three, Boulevard Du Camp depicts what should be a busy street but appears empty except for one man. The second photograph taken nearly 70 years later, Flatiron, depicts a quiet night with a few patient carriage drivers. The final image, Carrefour Blois, captures a snapshot of a common intersection, with several individual figures. In the first image the human figure is at first difficult to make out, but upon closer inspection can be revealed. At first it seems this man is resting against the base of a water pump, but at closer inspection one can note the sequential cropped trees leading down to this point. The thin part rising out of the figure is the top of a tree, where the second figure sits behind this. The two figures together make up the scene of a shoe shiner. The man stands still for a long time with his leg up as the smaller figure leans down and works. The Daguerreotype process required the subject to be photographed with a long exposure time, sometimes up to 60 minutes, meaning the picture would not hold any evidence of figures in movement. Thanks to the patience of the man in the image, he was able to be captured as the first man photographed. The single figure provides an intense contrast against the sharp architectural details created by human hands. As only one figure sits it emanates an empty desolate tone, as if the streets beg to be filled. In Steichen’s photograph the divergence between the powerful building and dampened carriage drivers shows again the muffled simplicity of mankind against its creations. In Flatiron, the human forms are dark and heavily shadowed, easily mistakable for lampposts or a tree trunk. These figures subtly break the sharp, hard lines of the surrounding buildings and bring a sense of calm as they peacefully wait for weary folk. The shapes gradually fade off as the viewers eyes reach the third driver. The
The earliest of the three, Boulevard Du Camp depicts what should be a busy street but appears empty except for one man. The second photograph taken nearly 70 years later, Flatiron, depicts a quiet night with a few patient carriage drivers. The final image, Carrefour Blois, captures a snapshot of a common intersection, with several individual figures. In the first image the human figure is at first difficult to make out, but upon closer inspection can be revealed. At first it seems this man is resting against the base of a water pump, but at closer inspection one can note the sequential cropped trees leading down to this point. The thin part rising out of the figure is the top of a tree, where the second figure sits behind this. The two figures together make up the scene of a shoe shiner. The man stands still for a long time with his leg up as the smaller figure leans down and works. The Daguerreotype process required the subject to be photographed with a long exposure time, sometimes up to 60 minutes, meaning the picture would not hold any evidence of figures in movement. Thanks to the patience of the man in the image, he was able to be captured as the first man photographed. The single figure provides an intense contrast against the sharp architectural details created by human hands. As only one figure sits it emanates an empty desolate tone, as if the streets beg to be filled. In Steichen’s photograph the divergence between the powerful building and dampened carriage drivers shows again the muffled simplicity of mankind against its creations. In Flatiron, the human forms are dark and heavily shadowed, easily mistakable for lampposts or a tree trunk. These figures subtly break the sharp, hard lines of the surrounding buildings and bring a sense of calm as they peacefully wait for weary folk. The shapes gradually fade off as the viewers eyes reach the third driver. The