Cityscapes

Cities are busy places where people watching can be fascinating. In nature I feel the emotions of the universe. In the city, it is the emotions of humanity that move me.?
City culture and entertainment are exciting. However, coming from the countryside where I live, the senses become overwhelmed. Can people maintain their sense of self in this circus-like atmosphere? How do they avoid being swallowed up in the flow of city time? Where is the balance found?

Photographing in the city with my pinhole cameras is an extension of my interest in people watching and photojournalism. With it's silent shutter and lack of viewfinder "technique", the pinhole camera lets me photograph in an unobtrusive way.The long exposures allow me to observe the people and places as they interact with the flow of time. I somehow slip into their space and share their experience.

In the pinhole images "society" often appears faceless. People are "there" but they are not "there". How many are actually "awake" and conscious of the moment? How many prefer to block out the here and now and disappear into their own worlds?
The hard lines of the buildings stand in stark contrast to the soft humans and warm light. Parks offer an oasis in what some feel is a desert. Open skies provide light through the cracks in the concrete jungle. But it is the flow of people, their ideas, and energy that gives the cities their magnetism.

Edward Levinson (Nov. 1997)