I’ve felt for a while that I needed to do more dusk and night photographs of the Lower East Side. The shop windows become more transparent as the sun goes down, and the street life changes as residents and tourists flock to the bars, restaurants, and clubs. Last night I went out at about 6, and did four photographs as the light faded. The first was of a nondescript new building–basic brick box with windows–at Stanton and Ludlow. On the left was a clothing shop, and to the right, a felt rope designating the queue for a club. It was early, so there were no standees. A bit further down on Stanton I photographed another clothing store, this time juxtaposed against a Chinese laundry.

Stanton Street

I then walked down Clinton Street, which is a mishmosh of nail salons, convenience stores, fast food, and serious restaurants. Difficult to convey the diversity in photographs. I took a picture at the corner of Clinton and Delancey, a fast food restaurant on the left and the Williamsburg Bridge entrance on the right. As usual, when dealing with busy sidewalks, I found a spot up against a lamppost–any kind of street furniture will do– that people already have to maneuver around. This gives me a small piece of sidewalk I can stakeout with my camera and tripod.

Blue

At Norfolk and Delancey I made a photograph beneath Blue, the new apartment building designed by Bernard Tschumi, famed Swiss architect and former dean of the Columbia architecture school. No other building better epitomizes the changes occuring to the Lower East Side, or to New York for that matter. High style modern architecture meets the tenements and gritty streets of the city’s most important immigrant neighborhood. When Blue is finished later this year, my project will be complete.