The Story Behind the Photograph - Manhattan 45th & 2nd.
Nearly a year ago, Polly and I spent six days in Manhattan. Of the hundreds of photographs taken, one became my favourite, Manahatten 45th & 2nd. The photograph was taken at 9:30pm, from the middle of 2nd Avenue, perhaps not the safest place to stand in NYC.
Manhattan, 45th & 2nd was taken handheld with my favourite lens, the Voigtlander 40mm F1.2 Nokton, bought specifically for the trip. In Manhattan, tripods are just an expensive trip hazard and for night photography a fast lens is essential. Wide open the manual focus Nokton sucks in any available light and turns it into pure character. It’s the perfect tool for the job.
Before venturing into the street I’d pre-focussed and pre-set the controls - aperture wide open, shutter speed at 1/100th of a second (to prevent movement blur) and the ISO upped to 800. With the camera set I could walk out, grab the shot and return to the sidewalk before the lights changed back to green.
As I walked out I had 2nd Avenue to myself, but just as I steadied to take the shot a figure stepped into the frame and began to cross the street. My initial reaction was to curse, but then, recalling Henri Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment, I waited until they were silhouetted against the car headlights. I pressed the shutter then turned to make a swift exit back to safety. More by luck than judgement I’d nailed the shot.
The appeal of the photograph has nothing to do with technical quality, it’s far from perfect. Instead the photograph (despite or because of its flaws) seems to me to be imbued with some sort of “cinematic quality”, or in other words it goes beyond a simple capture and instead tells a story about Manhattan, a Manhattan of mood and magic.
And because of that the photograph has sent me in a new cinematic direction, one that values story and mood over reality and technical IQ … but that’s another story for another time.