Most of the public-domain photographs I use in this blog were taken by commercial photographers. (Most of the rest were taken by photographers working for HABS or HAER.) Their work was once very much protected by copyright, but is now public domain by age or because it was donated. I’ve most heavily mined the archives …
In 1995, I had a small project in downtown Memphis and stayed two nights at the Peabody Hotel, pictured above in a 1920s postcard. It is a nice hotel but that’s not why it’s famous. It is famous because there is a group of ducks that live on the hotel’s roof and spend their days …
A romanesque church next door to an Art Deco apartment house is not really very rare in New York but this is a famous block. The building on the right is 55 Central Park West, which was made famous by the original Ghostbusters. Note that the top of the building in the movie is special …
The main observation deck at the Empire State isn’t the very top, the 102nd floor. That’s a basically a drum with windows. The main observation deck is the 86th floor, where there’s an outdoor terrace and indoor space. The last time I was there – admittedly, some years ago – there was a souvenir stand …
Walking through Battery Park just after sunset…do you see it? Huh? Huh? Do you see it? Here’s a blow-up: The Statue of Liberty, the moon, the cranes at Port Newark, and a tiny cloud.
