Rudy Burckhardt, Flatiron Building, 1948
Rudy Burckhardt, Astor Place, 1948
Rudy Burckhardt, Singer Building, New York, 1948
Rudy Burckhardt (American, born Switzerland, 1914–1999), known for his city and urban photography, captured a series of aerial views of New York in 1948. These images look vaguely familiar but they are eerie reminders of a landscape which, for all intents, is constantly shifting and adapting to its inhabitants. Where some images are shadows of our past, outlining familiar shapes and streets, others are ghostly windows into an unfamiliar cityscape (demolished, remolded, and forgotten in time). These images, and subsequent ones formed in both our minds and on film, act as constant reminders of a city that will always live up to its self-proclaimed newness.
Fans in a Flashbulb 