O2 - Issue 2 - (Page 49)

S hooting everything from pages of The New Yorker and Esquire to annual reports since 1975, Nelson Bakerman is one of the more adaptable photographers in New York. In 1988, this International Center of Photography professor added another feather to his cap, when he began documenting the construction of the city’s skyscrapers. A building assignment favors a nostalgic genre, Bakerman explains. “Construction hasn’t changed very much [since the 1920s] except for the modernization of some of the tools. Basically, you can’t do it without skilled laborers,” he says. So while Bakerman’s photos may not parrot Charles Ebbets’s famous 1932 picture of workers lunching on a crossbeam of the RCA building, the similarities—portraiture, a sense of heroism, black-and-white printing—are intentional. “It’s about celebrating the people, and I’ve found that the black-and-white images are much more dramatic; color can distract you from the worker.” Candor differentiates these photographs, too. Ninety percent of Bakerman’s portraits are taken in stolen moments, in which men and women appear more like fearless acrobats than construction workers. “To anybody who’s not familiar with this sort of thing it’s complete chaos,” Bakerman says. “I’m looking for this kind of madness, which is actually elegantly coordinated by the foreman.” Bakerman began shooting the construction of Riverhouse in November 2006, when the condo was but several stories tall. Although [ I HAD PHOTOGRAPHED STEEL STRUCTURES, BUT WITH A POURED-CONCRETE BUILDING LIKE RIVERHOUSE, THE PACE INCREASES THREE OR FOUR TIMES. A CREW CAN FRAME A FLOOR IN JUST A FEW HOURS. he’s committed 15 buildings to film previously, this experience has been completely new. “I had photographed steel structures, but with a pouredconcrete building like Riverhouse, the pace increases three or four times,” he says. “The cement is flowing like a river, and people are moving so quickly.” Although he had become familiar with moving across steel beams high above the earth, balancing on a carpet of rebar while watching carpenters walk across four-by-four wood planks also reminded Bakerman of the danger inherent of the job. “But it’s so coordinated that nobody gets hurt. It was quite exciting, and knowing that I was getting pictures I hadn’t gotten before was even better.” [ O 2 G R E E N M A G A Z I N E . C O M ] 49 http://O2GREENMAGAZINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of O2 - Issue 2

O2 - Issue 2 Contents Letter Freshpicks Itinerary The Hunt Flight O2 Outer Beauty Fuel 4 Thought Health Tech One to Watch Great Outdoors Features Future Focus Musings

O2 - Issue 2

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.