Friday, January 05, 2007

Murray Hill, Second Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets


Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

I'm trying to figure out why this shot doesn't bother me whereas this one did. In the earlier one, I loved the colors and different elements in it: the doorway with light and stairs and the red brick second storey and the dark red free daily box, but it seemed to be too much a photograph about a restaurant. In the present one, many of the same elements are present, the store front with the prominent sign, the doorway to the side and the brick second storey, but I don't get the same feeling, that it's a photograph about the restaurant.

But why? What's the difference? The tree? I almost think that's it. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this.

See map.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think maybe it's because Subway shops are part of the street scene in the way passing trucks or taxis are. If you see a Subway or a Starbucks you wouldn't notice it in the same way you would a regular, individual restaurant. So it's much more a familiar street scene image that says: "You don't have to pay attention to me--there'll be one on the next block too. It's New York, Stupid."

Anonymous said...

I had the exactly opposite feeling. Never thought of the first one as a photo of a restaurant, but when I saw this one my first thought was - oh, a picture of a Subway. I liked the first one much more - better color and interesting light effects.

Anonymous said...

Thank you all for your interesting opinions. It's probably true that my feeling that the two photos are basically different is because Subways are so common (thanks, Luka). But I'm really interested that no one agrees with me about the second photo. Not that that's uncommon.