Ch-ch-ch-changes...

I wish I could remember the details, but I've heard it said that if you want to get classic images of a city like NYC, you should aim your camera to the third floor or higher when you shoot. I thought it would be fun to test that hypothesis by comparing an old photograph I made on a visit to NYC several decades ago with something current from Google Street View or Apple Maps.

So, here we go. Shown below is a photograph from the mid 1980s shot on the corner of Lafayette and Bond Streets looking roughly east along Bond. Great Jones would be the first street you came to if you went to the left. Canon AE-1, 50 mm f/1.4, Tri-X, Rodinal. 

Now, here is the view from 2020, this time, a screen shot from a map service, perspective corrected and converted to black and white in Ps.

What do you think? I think the advice may be good, after all. It sure looks like the lunch place has gone upscale along with the rest of the neighborhood. Above street level, though, things don't look all that different. 

Now, as far as what is going on inside, I'm pretty sure that is a totally different story.