Cassie Foster Photography: Deconstructing Environmental Photographers: Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building, in New York has a strong architectural history and because of this the photos people have taken of it over the years express a lot of emotion and respect. When the building was first built it was one of the tallest buildings in New York. The following images were all captured in the space of 50 years, between 1903 and 1938. Most, if not all of these particular recordings of The Flatiron Building show it as a grand, overpowering spectacle, focusing on the photo taken by Walter Gropius in 1928 anyone can see how impressive he has made the building look. He has positioned the camera in such a place that shows the building imposing down onto the city below. The camera position could be seen as either a positive or negative representation of the building, but I feel that as the building is framed by the white out sky and the angle at which it has been shot shows Gropius's positive reaction to the noble building.
The photograph taken by Edward Steichen in 1905 shows a very opposite regard for the building, I feel. He has engrossed the building within the silhouetted branches of the surrounding trees. This creates a negative atmosphere to the photograph and looks as though he is trying to cover the building. I think that Steichen was frustrated by the building and how imposing it was.
The way Walker Evans has shot his photograph of the Flatiron Building is at a very interesting angle, framing the building within the walls of others. The three photos taken by Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans and Walter Gropius a similar in the way that they show the sky with little importance as it as no detail in it, I think this shows the positive responses these three photographers have towards the Flatiron Building.
The last two images created by Alfred Stieglitz and Alvin Langdon Coburn both frames the building within trees; the photograph by Alfred Stieglitz looks as though it has been taken on a winter morning and although the building is in the background that fact the trees and branches are dulled out by the snow and frost means that looking beyond them is easy, showing their insignificance and allows one to focus on the detail of the building. Coburn's photo looks as though it has been shot in a similar position in the city to Steichen's picture, this photo has a lot more context to it and shows how the city works around the building. The images has a lot on contrast in it a like to the image Evans took and the complete opposite of how Gropius for example has styled his photo. Berenice Abbott's photo is the most emotionally detached for me, it is a document of the building rather than the artists expressed opinion of the building.
I have found from studying these six images that there has obviously been a wide range of responses to the building. When something so influential on the Manhattan skyline is built there is bound to be some division in opinions. These photos show this well, from where the photographer has positioned their camera to the lighting conditions, everything the photographer has chosen to do in order to create their image reflects a strong sense of purpose and emotion behind each photograph.