The Art of photography

RespondingtotheSubject:TheCity

SheilaMetznerwaslookingattheHud-

sonRiverinbroaddaylightfromthewin-

dowofherManhattanapartmentwhen

shegottheassignmenttophotograph

thecity—buttheimageinhermind's

eye,sherecalls,wasnottheriverbut

preciselytheonereproduced

at

right:

an

enchantedEmpireStateBuildingaglow

intheincandescenthalf-lightofdusk.

NewYorkCity,Metznersays,"ismy

home,Iwasborninit,"andnothingelse

signifiesfor

herthemagicofthecityas

immediatelyasdoesthattoweringmono-

lith:"I'veseenitinsomanylights,

so

manytimes,fromsomanydifferentparts

ofthecitythatIthinkoftheEmpireState

Building

asasymbol,abeacon,aguard-

ian.Ifeelithasacertainlifetoit:it'sal-

most
a

friend."

Becauseitheldsuchvisualmeaning

forher,Metznerhadpreviously
photo-

graphedtheskyscraper,butinblackand

white.Forthisassignment,
shecarrieda

35mmSLRandarangefinder,bothload-

edwithcolorfilm,andthreelenses—

a

90mm,
a105mmanda300mm.With

themshemadeherwaytotheroofofthe

buildingfrom
whichshehadpreviously

shot.Theresheworkedfornearlyfour

hours,spendingmostof
thattimeprepar-

ing
forthe actualshooting.

Sheknewshewantedthepicture

to

showthebuilding
straighton,"without

anydimensionandwithnootherbuild-

ingsinfrontof
it,"andinlightthatis"a

momentofturning,justafterdark,while

thereisstillsomelight.There
wasn'tthat

much
time,"shesaid,"becausethere

wassuchasubtleexchangeinvolved
be-

tweenthelightandthedarkandthe

lightsgoingon.TheEmpireStateBuild-

inglightsdon'tgoonallatonce;theygo

ongradually."

AtlastMetznerwassatisfied,andshot

fourrollsofcolortransparencyfilm.After

reviewing

theslides,shechosetheone

reproducedhere—takenwiththerange-

findercamera

andthe90mmlens—and

sentittoFrance,tohaveaprintspecially

madebytheAtelierFresson,

a

family-

ownedfirmthatsince 1890 hasspecial-

izedinaprocessofcolorprintingbased

on

pigmentsratherthandyes.

Thisspecialprocess,calledFresson

Quadrichromie,producesrich,full-color

printsthatwillnotfade aseasilyas con-

ventionalprints.To

produceone,four

piecesofprintingpaperarecoatedwith

light-sensitivepotassiumbichromateand

pigment—onepigmentforeachprimary

color,plusoneforblack.Eachprimary

colorinthetransparencyistransferredto

theemulsionbycontact,sothatseparate

emulsions

existforeachprimaryinthe

slide,plusblack.Thefouremulsionsare

strippedfrom

thepaperbackingandre-

positioned,oneatoptheother,inperfect

registration

to

createthefinal

print.

Theprocessusuallytakeseightweeks

buttoenableMetznertomeether

dead-

line

Fressonworkedwithextraspeed

—

takingjustthreeweekstoproduce

a

fin-

ishedprint.WhenMetznerreceivedit,

shefoundexactlywhatshehadseenin

hermind's

eye:aportraitoftheEmpire

StateBuildingthattransformedwhatis

oftenjustavisualclicheinto

a

vibrant

originalimage.