From the day
Perspective: The Street Photographer · Tactile
The damp cobblestones of 1907 Manhattan catch the light like a fresh Autochrome plate, mirroring the stiff silk hats of newsboys shouting that the Bartletts were named by both parties. I adjust my tripod, my fingers grazing the rough wool of a passerby’s frock coat and the slick, waxy finish of a new Rook card deck tucked into a young lad’s pocket. With a snap of the shutter, I capture a woman whose ostrich-feathered hat rivals the glamour of the Ziegfeld Follies, her velvet skirts sweeping through the grime of the gutter. The air smells of coal smoke and yeast, a sharp contrast to the cold, metallic weight of my glass slides and the sturdy Bakelite trimmings on my gear.