seeing our cities: Cervin Robinson's "By Way of Broadway" and our urban experience

I went to see architectural photographer Cervin Robinson's work the other day. It is titled "By Way of Broadway" and is a series of shots up and down Broadway in New York City, to show a cross-section of Manhattan.

The photos were largely deadpan, head-on views of buildings, with a few perspectives in the mix. While it didn't seem to be the intent of the exhibit, it struck me how little we see our cities as we scurry up and down the sidewalks, mashed up against the buildings in single-file by the rush of cars.

Our entire urban lives are forced into high-speed linearity. But pedestrian life is omni-directional. Do we not loose some richness of urbanity with this tunnel vision? It seems like our buildings are strangled by ropes of traffic, isolated, unable to reciprocate or participate as anything but anonymous, perpendicular shelter or distant monument in this rush.


I found this pdf of his images, hopefully it will remain after the exhibit announcement is gone.