Report: The Streets and Picture Essays

Submitted By Andrea-Almeyda
Words: 567
Pages: 3

Andrea Almeyda

In 1997, Douglas Levere went back to pike St. (between Henry and Madison) to retake the picture previously taken in 1936 by his inspiration Berenice Abbott.

The purpose of this was to compare and contrast the changes that occurred 61 years after by taking the picture in the same spot. As we see in the picture, there were several changes done in the area between those periods of time.

First of all, this picture must have been taken in the late fall because of how the trees look. They have a cold feeling and don't have any leaves. We can also see an incredible advance in technology and design because the cars in the streets and the buildings look more modern. It also looks like the buildings in the right side of the street were demolished because in the Levere picture there are trees instead of the building in the Abbott picture. This could be because of the several renovations done in the past 6 decades.

On the other hand, the view of the Manhattan Bridge at the end of the street still persists and it is still as breath taking as in the Abbott picture, maybe that is why both photographers focused on getting an angle that let the bridge be in the center of the shot.

We can also experience the same view and feelings with a more modern perspective in this picture because we can clearly see the remodeled buildings, the cars, the newer road the new stores, the new trees, that make a big different when we experience both pictures. By retaking this one specific shot Levere enables us the opportunity to analyze how humans can be so productive and creative because we can see how the same spot is transformed into something incredibly adequate to the decade. We can assume that when taking this he wanted to share with us how time passes and takes what we have been building with it. At the end of the day we are left just with these pictures we can save forever.

In 1997, the multiculturalism and the alternative media were dominating the city. A lot of