New York City, 1978 (#1)

Perhaps the greatest icon of the twentieth century is the Empire State Building. With it was born the term ‘Skyscraper.’ The word itself has the charm of a Native American chant. This building is to New York as Mt. Fuji is to Japan; mythic, constant, yet ever-changing. The Empire State Building is the pylon around which I turned during this particular photographic inquiry. From river to river, from Harlem to the Battery, I looked at the connection between ordinary life down on the streets and skyscraper. I wanted to see if, as in Hokusai's prints of Mt. Fuji, there might be a connection between the humble daily lives of the inhabitants and this majestic form.

If you ask a question then you must be prepared for any answers that arise. The Mt. Fuji question is really me asking, in photographic terms: What happens when one uses a nominal subject, such as the Empire State Building, as a lever to lift a hidden, larger subject onto the plane of visibility? These photographs are the answers