In the 1990s there were many vintage buildings in Manhattan. On East 25th in particular, there were several buildings with interesting arches and curved roofs, that had been previously used as stables. I understand that this area may have been known as the ‘carriage district’.

The problem with street photography in the 1990s particularly when trying to capture an entire building facade, was space. OnIe couldn’t back up far enough to picture the entire building; the building across the street prevented me from doing so. Unlike today, where phone cameras can adjust to the appropriate focal length, lenses had (unless the were zoom lenses) fixed. My 28mm lens was not short enough to capture the whole building face.

My solution to this problem was to take a picture from an oblique angle and reconstruct it as a watercolor sketch. Alas, this is not a photographic solution, but it was a way to get a sense of the buildings that used to be standing in New York City not all that long ago.

A 4×6 print, matted for a 5×7 frame, Auto Repair Sans Graffiti [original title] is available at my Etsy shop: OtherArtbyJack.

Here is a photo of the carriage building that had been converted to an auto repair shop. I was across the street at a vantage point that allowed me to get a sense of the building as a whole.