It’s not often in one’s life that the figurative melds into the literal in a matter of seconds. It happened to me on Saturday.
We were in Brooklyn visiting Corie, cruising around DUMBO. The path had to lead by Water Street because that is where Jaques Torres’ chocolate shop is located and it was Mother’s Day and even if it weren’t - that is where Jaques Torres’ chocolate shop is located. We were about to go inside when I looked across the street at the old warehouse building and I saw a great photograph to snap.
As with many old, 19th century warehouses, this one had those great iron shutters that protected the opening in each story where goods were once hauled up via block and tackle for storage. Old, dark, rusted iron against the weathered brick. To top it off, a pigeon sat quietly at the peak of the topmost iron shutter, artfully punctuating the composition. “Wait a sec”, I told Nancy and Corie, “I want to shoot a few pictures” and proceeded across the street.
As I walked across the composition formed itself in my mind. I had the nice wide-angle lens on the camera. I’d stand at the very base of the wall and shoot up, getting the deep perspective of the windows framed by all the brick with the eye coming to rest on the solitary pigeon. No one was walking on that side of the street - I could take my time and compose.
I set the aperture. I focused. I composed the shot. Then everything went into slow motion. Not just any slow motion - think Peckinpah’s Wild Bunch - think Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. The next three seconds took thirty…
