Black + White

Atlas circa 1978

My first trip to New York City was in 1954 when I accompanied my mother on a business trip for our family’s newly acquired Montreal business. We travelled by overnight train and arrived at Grand Central Station early the next morning. The city’s energy mesmerized me, marking my first experience beyond Montreal.

Over the years, I visited NYC many times, and by 1967, my passion for photography had intensified to the point where I considered it as a potential career. By then, my camera was always by my side.

New York City’s architecture is remarkably unique, featuring landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Flatiron Building. Rockefeller Center, with its imposing statue of Atlas, particularly captured my interest. While a search for Atlas photos online today yields multitudinous images, my photograph was taken long before the internet existed, making such images scarce at the time and none I can recall having seen.

While capturing my image, I envisioned using darkroom techniques—typical of the wet photography era—to present Atlas as a powerful figure set against a slightly out-of-focus, almost ethereal background. The result, if nothing else, was original for its time.

Being pre-internet is not to imply something is better, just that the chance it was already seen and just duplicated is slim.

Atlas circa 1978

My first trip to New York City was in 1954 when I accompanied my mother on a business trip for our family’s newly acquired Montreal business. We travelled by overnight train and arrived at Grand Central Station early the next morning. The city’s energy mesmerized me, marking my first experience beyond Montreal.

Over the years, I visited NYC many times, and by 1967, my passion for photography had intensified to the point where I considered it as a potential career. By then, my camera was always by my side.

New York City’s architecture is remarkably unique, featuring landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Flatiron Building. Rockefeller Center, with its imposing statue of Atlas, particularly captured my interest. While a search for Atlas photos online today yields multitudinous images, my photograph was taken long before the internet existed, making such images scarce at the time and none I can recall having seen.

While capturing my image, I envisioned using darkroom techniques—typical of the wet photography era—to present Atlas as a powerful figure set against a slightly out-of-focus, almost ethereal background. The result, if nothing else, was original for its time.

Being pre-internet is not to imply something is better, just that the chance it was already seen and just duplicated is slim.