The Brownstones Go! 1939

William Parker Abbe made this print called 'The Brownstones Go!' The cross-hatching of the lines, all those blacks and greys, make me think of the physical work involved in producing a print. I picture Abbe hunched over a plate, scratching away to slowly reveal the image. It’s a real labor of love. I wonder if he felt like the brownstones were going even as he worked? Building on top of building, layer upon layer, the city rises in front of him. The stacked chairs in the foreground look like the brownstones themselves, on the verge of being torn down. This image is a document, a record of something fleeting. Abbe’s got the city figured out as both a solid and transient thing. Like all of us, he's taking note, trying to fix things in place, but knowing full well everything shifts, changes, and is on the go.