This was captured with the Phase One Achromatic back and the Rodenstock 32mm/4.0 HR-Digaron lens, with the back shifted by 8.5mm to maintain the building's geometry. I used a polarizer to add contrast to the sky, but otherwise used no color filtration. The camera was positioned across the avenue about 10 meters up (at the bottom of the "canyon" of the skyline reflected in the building).
Mid-century rectangular glass curtain buildings like this are easy to dismiss as boring, but I think that misses something. Reflections of the surroundings become part of their facade, which changes at different angles and throughout the day. I visited several times and made dozens of photos, all quite different, before I settled on this one, and there are infinitely many photos others could make, all unique.
The UN Secretariat building was designed by an international team of architects (most notably Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer) and completed in 1950. It was the first important "International Style" modernist skyscraper in New York - exemplified here here by a simple, unadorned rectangle with reflective glass curtain walls on either side.
While glass box office buildings became almost cliche in mid-century NYC, the UN remains unusual in being set apart in the skyline, uncrowded by neighbors.
@mattblaze People tend to forget that the first externally hung glass wall building was (and remains) in San Francisco. It's got more decoration than International Style.
@mattblaze Willis Polk did several building in or near San Francisco. I was really interested in buying one of his houses - it was really cheap because some near murders happened in it and it had fallen into terrible disrepair and was near collapse - it was a gargantuan place with 92 rooms!!!! It would have cost $millions upon $millions to restore (and someone finally did.) (We did, however, almost buy a Julia Morgan house in Berkeley - but we learned not to buy a place on an historic register - too many restrictions on modernizing things like electrics.)
It can be quite interesting to do a tour of California architects - Morgan (Hearst Castle), Polk, and Maybeck (all three worked on Wyntoon - which is still quite private - Hearst family - and we've never been able to wangle an invite) and down south Greene and Greene.
I have mixed feelings about Le Corbusier's architecture (to say nothing of his urban planning philosophy), but I think the UN Secretariat building was quite successful.
@mattblaze Very nice. Often these photos look "wrong" to my eye, which expects more perspective-induced tapering with height, but this one feels more natural.
I'm curious — did you get the shifting correct in camera or have to fool with it in post a bit? I've wanted to try tilt-shift lenses more but the $/entertainment ratio is off for my purposes. Maybe I should plan some trip and rent one someday.
@mattblaze Also I sure wish Canon would dump the antialiasing filter. Not having that meant a big sharpness boost when I tested the Phase One gear. Plus the bajillion pixels, of course. And that wasn't even with the achromatic back.
@midendian It was. The fences have always surrounded the complex, though the access policy has changed over time (e.g., the steps to the visitor center to the north used to be open all the time).
Add comment