Firehouse 52: Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale Avenue at 245th Street, Bronx 1937

This black and white photograph captures Firehouse 52 in Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale Avenue, the Bronx, through Berenice Abbott’s clear lens. The façade is so present, so flat, it feels like it could be a stage set. There’s the darkness of the fire engine bay, that black mouth just waiting to open, to receive, to deliver. I try to imagine Abbott setting up her camera on the street, trying to get the light just right, waiting for a moment when the street was empty. I can almost feel the weight of her camera, the focused gaze through the viewfinder, a patient observation that transforms the ordinary into something iconic. You know, it makes you think about what a building *is*. It’s not just bricks and mortar, it’s the breath of the people that are laboring and living inside of it. It’s their history and their legacy. Think of all the artists, like Abbott, who show us how to really look!