What I find most fascinating is how consistent the photographed individuals are, in their demeanor and style, over time.
netsharc · 1h ago
Why are there no dates on the photos (or just month and year for privacy reasons), even in the book there aren't any: https://tbwbooks.com/products/42nd-and-vanderbilt-second-edi... . Seeing the differences (and similarities) while knowing the time gap would be fascinating.
I wonder how he figured out if a person he just snapped had walked by years ago... I guess face recognition is possible.
metalman · 1h ago
this is art,it is not a file.
danhau · 1h ago
Would dates not enhance this art?
JKCalhoun · 44m ago
Maybe. It's possible too it would take something away. As it is we're left to wonder and we would of course lose that.
As I recall, Feynman made a comment in one of his autobiographies about an argument he had had with an artist friend about the beauty of a rose. His friend was frustrated with Feynman's reductionist approach to everything including the rose. Paraphrasing Feynman: "How does knowing more about how a rose works take away from its beauty?"
I wonder if Feynman understood that naivety is a thing you can lose or if he understood that but did not see any value in naivety, mystery.
Perhaps a counterpoint to Feynman: "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer".
Cerium · 39m ago
I think not. I enjoyed looking for details, for example how a backpack is clean in one photo and dirty in the other. Not knowing the details let's the viewer ponder and compair with more curiosity and intrigue. It sets a mystery.
Funch's project is more interesting because it captures a person at least twice over time; however, the photos are less well executed compared to the ones from diCorcia, but that's to be expected as diCorcia only had to find good and photogenic photographs once per subject, Funch had to get his subject's photos at least twice --so it was much harder to do.
rapnie · 1h ago
These people on their daily commute reminded me of the work of Ritzo Ten Cate, called "Caught in the App" [0]. The photos of 'phone zombies' walking the street are indicative how much and how quickly society has changed under the influence of our tech devices. On the Dutch website [1] are some more pictures and link to a TEDx talk Ritzo gave on the art campaign.
https://www.peterfunch.com/portfolio/42nd-and-vanderbilt/
In each pair, the photos may be years apart!
What I find most fascinating is how consistent the photographed individuals are, in their demeanor and style, over time.
I wonder how he figured out if a person he just snapped had walked by years ago... I guess face recognition is possible.
As I recall, Feynman made a comment in one of his autobiographies about an argument he had had with an artist friend about the beauty of a rose. His friend was frustrated with Feynman's reductionist approach to everything including the rose. Paraphrasing Feynman: "How does knowing more about how a rose works take away from its beauty?"
I wonder if Feynman understood that naivety is a thing you can lose or if he understood that but did not see any value in naivety, mystery.
Perhaps a counterpoint to Feynman: "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer".
Funch's project is more interesting because it captures a person at least twice over time; however, the photos are less well executed compared to the ones from diCorcia, but that's to be expected as diCorcia only had to find good and photogenic photographs once per subject, Funch had to get his subject's photos at least twice --so it was much harder to do.
[0] https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/haunting-photos-of-lo...
[1] https://ritzotencate.com/project/caught-in-the-app/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGV_h36uZ5E