"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Any Excuse to Think About the Old Penn Station

Nice post on the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt’s work over at the New Yorker’s Photo Booth.

Here’s more:

12 comments

1 Chyll Will   ~  Nov 17, 2010 10:25 am

What a disastrous decision that was to tear this down. The current Penn Station is literally a hole underneath a black hole. Turning the Farley Post Office across the street into a new Penn Station will only be a band-aid on a gaping wound to this city's history, or rather replacing one injustice with another.

2 Alex Belth   ~  Nov 17, 2010 11:19 am

2) the one good thing that came out of it was the NY preservation society was formed to help prevent further disasters.

3 monkeypants   ~  Nov 17, 2010 11:36 am

2)...like, um, tearing down Yankee Stadium?

4 Raf   ~  Nov 17, 2010 11:50 am

3) I think had Yankee Stadium not had undergone major renovations, that the movement to preserve Yankee Stadium would've been stronger.

5 Raf   ~  Nov 17, 2010 11:51 am

I need a proofreader...

6 Alex Belth   ~  Nov 17, 2010 12:19 pm

3) Yeah, I wouldn't put the remodeled Yankee Stadium in the same class.

7 Chyll Will   ~  Nov 17, 2010 12:20 pm

[5] I blame WordPress... and A-Rod.

8 Alex Belth   ~  Nov 17, 2010 12:29 pm

I blame A Rod for Penn Station, some of his finest pre-natal work.

9 monkeypants   ~  Nov 17, 2010 12:52 pm

The Preservation Act was in 1966. Despite that, Yankee Stadium was allowed to be gutted...er, remodeled...to such an extent that the remodeling could be used as justification for the structures complete and utter demolition, without the preservation of a single girder, seat, beam or ticket booth.

10 The Mick536   ~  Nov 17, 2010 1:40 pm

Jay Maisel tells a story about taking pictures of Sammy Davis and Marilyn Monroe as a young a young photographer. He snapped some photos, soon running out of film. He thought he had film in the camera, but he didn't. I didn't see the photos during a recent workshop. But, how hard could it have been?

So, I brought this story up with a member of my Meetup photography group. I was asked if I thought I could have taken the image of Sophia Loren which appeared on the Life cover. "Not with my level of maturity and photographic skills. I have enough trouble looking at the photo and breathing at the same time."

11 moismycopilot   ~  Nov 18, 2010 12:00 am

[9] The Preservation Act doesn't really have teeth, though. Until recently, one strategy that developers used to circumvent it was to strip the buildings of historical character, or otherwise deface them. After that, the committee would tend to let the owners of the buildings do whatever they wanted, because there was nothing left to preserve.

12 The Mick536   ~  Nov 18, 2010 9:02 am

Just another photographic thought, since that is what the post intended, check out the part where he talks about looking at backgrounds before subjects. Good advice for a photographer. Also notice that he carries a Leica which, while producing superior images, doesn't look like a professional camera, except to a photographer.

I also question his title as the creator of street photography. I detest best lists. You can have favorites for sure: Mickey, Willie, and the Duke. But creator takes some research, some criteria, some comparisons. I think HCB started it. He carried a Leica also.

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