#manhattan1980s

[railwayhistorical]

San Gennaro Feast

I took these while studying photography at Pratt Institute. I was into a blur/flash technique at the time that gives both sharpness and movement; these are film (of course) as it's the fall of 1982.

Four images by Richard Koenig; the now vintage prints were made on fiber-based, warm-toned paper.

#san gennaro feast #sangennarofeast #san gennaro #sangennaro #little italy #littleitaly #newyorkcity #new york city #nyc1980s #1980s #manhattan1980s #manhattan

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

A Flushing-bound Seven Train is seen here at Roosevelt Avenue and 74th Street, Queens. Manhattan (ESB, Citicorp Tower) can be seen in the background.

Images by Richard Koenig in 1982 and 2022; for more of this project please go here.

#queens #queens1980s #manhattan #manhattan1980s #newyork1980s #rephotography #filmphotography #grainisgood #seventrain #mta #jacksonheights #pratt

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

Lower Manhattan as seen from the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights, taken 1988 and 2021. Images by Richard Koenig; for more of this project please go here.

#manhattan #manhattan1980s #newyork1980s #filmphotography #grainisgood #rephotography #woolworthbuilding #eastriver #worldtradecenter #newgildedage #wtc #promenade #brooklynheights

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

In this view of Times Square, we are looking east along 46th Street across Seventh Avenue and Broadway, taken 1981 and 2021.

Images by Richard Koenig; for more of this project please go here.

#manhattan #manhattan1980s #newyork1980s #timessquare #46thstreet #filmphotography #grainisgood #rephotography #7thavenue #broadway #bway

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

Park Avenue and 59th Street, New York, taken 1982 and 2022. Images by Richard Koenig; for more of this project please go here.

#manhattan #manhattan1980s #newyork1980s #59thstreet #parkavenue #midtown #filmphotography #grainisgood #rephotography #telephonebooth

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

Lower Manhattan as seen from the Brooklyn Promenade, 1981 and 2021

Images by Richard Koenig; for more of this project please go here.

#brooklyn1980s #brooklyn #newyork1980s #pratt #filmphotogrpahy #grainsisgood #wtc #promenade #manhattan #manhattan1980s #oneworldtradecenter

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

Manhattan as seen from Roosevelt Island, 1981 and 2021. We're standing under the 59th Street, or Queensboro Bridge (now named for Mayor Ed Koch), looking over the East River toward Manhattan. The tramway is also here of course, though one can also get to the island via subway. Images by Richard Koenig; for more of this project please go here.

#queens #queens1980s #manhattan #manhattan1980s #newyork1980s #filmphotography #rephotography #grainisgood #rooseveltisland #rooseveltislandtra #rooseveltislandtramway #eastriver #queensborobridge #59thstreetbridge

[railwayhistorical]

Times Square

In this view of the Times Square area, we are looking east along 46th Street across Seventh Avenue and Broadway.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken in the spring of 1982.

#nyc #nyc1980s #manhattan #manhattan1980s #timesquare #timesquare1980s #filmphotography #grainisgood

[railwayhistorical]

City as Metaphor

With this project I revisit locales in New York City (primarily Brooklyn), where I made photographs several decades ago. A contemporary, high-resolution image is then made, framed to mimic the prior photograph. The updated view is then combined with the vintage analog work to form a straightforward diptych à la Mark Klett’s wonderful Rephotographic Survey Project of the late seventies. The goal of this undertaking is to allow the viewer to study how visible things may have changed over a relatively long period of time—the most notable being, perhaps, an explosion of trees and foliage. But while the image-duos describe this and other changes based on physical appearances, it is hoped that a reflection of a deeper sort may be elicited. One may ponder what has transpired generally since the vintage views were made—the nature of the photography exhibited here is a receipt for a far-reaching digital revolution still unfolding. Beyond image and information technology, though, lurk other truly impactful events, some of which can be discerned from the images, while others cannot. The circumstance for having created the vintage images (while the author was studying photography at Pratt Institute in the early eighties) is arbitrary, but not insignificant. While not as dramatic as the shift in social, political, and cultural mores that occurred in the late sixties, the author, like many others, feels 1980 marks the beginning of a shift toward a new gilded age in the United States. Citing the oft-stated fable of frogs slowly being cooked alive, we tend not to notice incremental change, even when dangerous or possibly fatal in nature. It is hoped that the simple tactic of using time-comparison photographs will work to jar the viewer.

One can go here to see the entire project.

Richard Koenig

#newyorkcity #newyorkcity1980s #manhattan #manhattan1980s #thelake #thelake1980s #centralpark #filmphotography #grainisgood

[railwayhistorical]

Park Avenue

A shot looking down Park Avenue toward the Pan Am Building; the cross street is 53rd. One image by Richard Koenig; taken in the spring of 1982.

#nyc #nyc1980s #manhattan #manhattan1980s #parkavenue #filmphotography #grainisgood

[railwayhistorical]

Central Park

Here’s a neat little spot in Central Park, the location of which that is difficult to describe. Let’s call it between Pinebank Arch and Heckscher Fields, Kickball Field Number 3.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken in the spring of 1982.

#nyc #nyc1980s #manhattan #manhattan1980s #centralpark #essexhouse #midtown #pinebankarch #heckscherfield

[railwayhistorical]

Midtown from Central Park

I believe the first image here, in color, is taken from Sheep Meadow while the second comes from Hernshead which juts into “The Lake”.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken in the fall of 1981.

#nyc #nyc1980s #manhatttan #manhattan1980s #centralpark #sheepmeadow #hernshead #thelake

[railwayhistorical]

Roosevelt Island Tramway

Here are some photographs I took while using the tram to get to Roosevelt Island and back in the mid-1980s. The tramway opened in 1976.

In the first image we have quickly gained altitude and can look down upon 1st Avenue. In the second we’ve made it to a spot adjacent to the western tower of the very distinctive Queensboro (or 59th Street) Bridge; the companion capsule can be seen on its return trip to Manhattan.

In the final two images I’m exploring a bit on the island, taking in the East River and some of the buildings across the way—the United Nations Secretariat Building (completed 1952) and the Citicorp Building (1977) among them.

Four images by Richard Koenig; taken in the spring of 1984.

#nyc #newyorkcity #nyc1980s #newyorkcity1980s #rooseveltisland #eastriver #rooseveltislandtramway #mahattan #manhattan1980s