Delancey Street 1937

Editor: This is Nathan Lerner’s “Delancey Street” from 1937. It’s a black and white photograph that feels…claustrophobic, almost like a street scene compressed. What compositional elements stand out to you? Curator: Note the deep blacks and compressed greys of the composition and how they contribute to that feeling. Observe how the geometry creates implied lines that guide the eye, first to the flatbed truck, then back to the compressed diagonal lines of the city. The verticality of the fire escapes create a sense of rising anxiety. Notice the positioning of the figures, are they framing something, or being framed? Editor: I see what you mean! The men on the truck are framed, almost like a dark mirror reflecting each other. It’s all shapes. Why do you think Lerner chose this particular viewpoint, the view of the workers inside the back of a sanitation truck? Curator: Consider the tonality. The heavy grays draw attention away from detail and bring the vehicles and men together into nearly indecipherable blocks. How do these flattened, abstracted forms contrast or converse with the surrounding geometric urbanism? Also, are you accounting for any elements that disturb the composition such as water droplets and reflections from windows and vehicles? Editor: I think that disturbance keeps the image active, rather than static. All of the formal elements converge and build this feeling, of the tension of men, metal and environment. Is that a fair reading? Curator: Indeed. Through attention to form, texture, and tonality, one could perceive a commentary on the impact of industrialization upon urban life and labour in Depression-era America. Editor: So much to learn by simply slowing down and looking closely! Thanks. Curator: Indeed. We have merely begun.