Lower Manhattan Skyline 2009 | Black and White Photography

Storm Clouds Over New York's Waterfront Skyline

The sky was doing as much work as the city.

I made this photograph in 2009 from across the Hudson River, looking toward the Lower Manhattan skyline beneath a mass of heavy storm clouds. The date matters here. New York's skyline has changed considerably since then, making this not only a cityscape but a record of Manhattan at a particular moment.

I was drawn to the compression of buildings along the waterfront. Towers of different heights and periods rise almost shoulder to shoulder, creating a dense rhythm of windows, vertical lines and architectural shapes. Construction cranes appear among them, another reminder that New York is rarely finished.

The river gives the photograph room to breathe. Its broad horizontal surface separates me from the city while the skyline forms a solid band beneath the enormous sky. Above it, the clouds become darker and more complicated, pressing down visually on the buildings and giving the scene a weight that would disappear on a clear day.

Black and white was an obvious choice for me. Colour would have added information I did not need. In monochrome, the photograph becomes about structure, weather, scale and the subtle tonal differences between stone, glass, water and cloud.

I have photographed New York many times, but the city is never quite the same twice. Buildings rise, skylines change and familiar views slowly become historical. Looking at this 2009 waterfront today, that passage of time has become part of the photograph.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2009