The Park Row Building c. 1910

Alvin Langdon Coburn made this photograph, The Park Row Building, using a camera and a darkroom, of course. Just look at how Coburn coaxes the grays from his materials, blurring the boundaries between the buildings and the sky, or even the buildings and smoke. There’s a tonal, tactile quality to the image that reminds me of charcoal or lithography. Look closely at the billowing cloud on the left – it’s almost as if Coburn is painting light itself. This soft focus gives the city a dreamy, almost apocalyptic feel. The crisp geometry of the buildings contrasts with this ephemeral cloud, evoking both solidity and transience. Coburn’s work shares some of the same sensibilities as Alfred Stieglitz, another photographer who embraced abstraction as a way to capture the essence of modern life. Both were interested in pushing the boundaries of photography as a fine art. Ultimately, this image is about the act of seeing, and feeling, the city.