Guide

The basic idea behind this project is to take a selection of the photographs contained in Abbott’s book and retrace her steps, documenting the locations as they are today. I try to lead with an image captured while standing in the same place and framing it in the same way she did, but this is not always possible due to intervening redevelopment.  More importantly, my objective is not simply a faithful recreation of her photographs. They are waypoints in an exploration of New York, not canonical images to be reproduced.  Finally, I don’t include panoramic vistas shot from skyscrapers’ rooftops—securing access to the buildings from which Abbott took those photographs is not particularly easy if you belong to hoi polloi.  We will remain at street level.

In structuring the site I have followed the book’s organization.  This is very much a work in progress, and only Section I is accessible for now; the remaining ones will be grayed out.

Drum roll, please.  Let’s get started.