The City (for myrrhulz) by Chipka
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Description
Cities, if anything, are incomprehensible glyphs, written across the face of the world. They are concrete and metal, flesh, wood, and the constant rub of life. Some are larger than others, all are massive sprawls of humanity at its most dynamic. Cities, if nothing else, are dynamic places: strange dynamos pumping energy into the aethers and—perhaps—powering strange, celestial machines.
I’m always reminded of this whenever I see images of cities: my own cities of Chicago, Moscow, or Prague…or other cities I have yet to visit. This is particularly true whenever I go through myrrhulz’s gallery and see her captures of New York.
It is a vast city, New York: a place of skyscrapers, history, and strange, elevated gardens. It is something of Babylon, perhaps, and something of Bellona, as described in Samuel R. Delany’s novel, Dhalgren. Indeed the Bellona of Dhalgren was directly inspired by the New York of the 1970s…a place of strange tensions: a perpetual question never answered. A place where the sky is never where you think it is, and the number of moons, suns, and subway stops shift incomprehensibly. Cities are places where newspaper editors may declare an arbitrary Thursday, or declare any day of the week you’d like: just as long as you give them 24 hours notice. This, I think, is the essence of the city…and it is perhaps why Biblical cities are always portrayed as dens of iniquity and chaos. To the wanderer, the rootless nomad, the city offers nothing familiar, nothing concrete. Cities, by their very natures, shift and contort, showing equal measures of splendor and misery in ways that are always interesting, always surprising, and at the core of it all, always truthful.
Chicago and New York, as myrrhulz shows it, are strange, shifty places: as real as Prague, Pekkur, or Omůt. They are dark with sky-scraping towers of metal and glass and crowded with as many agendas as there are people. They are stony places, incongruously soft. I’ve never been to New York, but I suspect it is what Chicago wants to be, what Chicago once might have been, had the forces of local history not shaped it into something at odds with itself. This is as much an aspect of the city as anything else: flux…tension…a note of perpetual change. I find comfort in that, and so in belated honor of a birthday, here is a fragment of a city…strangely devoid of people, and strangely green in ways commonly associated with anything but a city. And so with this image, I’d like to say a happy belated birthday to myrrhulz.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great (and warmer) weekend than this soggy, gray thing we have in Chicago.
Comments (17)
kgb224
Superb capture my friend.
durleybeachbum
Good to see an open vista, but I shall never like cities...
flavia49
nice capture and great dedication!
KatesFriend
There is a stretch of Toronto that is not unlike what you have hear. Indeed, for a moment I thought this might be Lakeshore Boulevard south of Sunnyside. On the far side of the avenue there would have been a major rail artery where GO Trains whisk passengers from Burlington to Oshawa all day, every day - lucky buggers. Though the core of the city would have been in the opposite direction if that were true. A beautiful park, very green and a reminder that there is still hope for our dark and dangerous cities.
myrrhluz
New York! My first view of her was as a skinny 11 year old, head arched back to see the tops of buildings, impossibly high. A place of loud metallic sounds, gritty smells, voices strange to my southern ear. When I left the northeast, and traveled far from its shores, every city brought me back to New York, because that's where I first experienced the dynamism you described. Now I have the privilege of visiting New York on a fairly regular basis, because my sister lives there. For me, there is no place like it. I'm not a city girl. I have always lived in the bland world of the suburbs. But even as an alien of her world, New York gets into your blood, and leaves you not quite the same. Thank you for this, Chip! As I read your words they opened up images of cities; concrete or nebulous, firmly planted in this world or as a mirage, tantalizingly seen only to fade to a whisper of the mind. Thank you for the belated birthday wish, and as always, thank you for your image and words. They roam around my mind, conjuring images here, teasing thoughts into life there. Wonderful image! Towering skyscrapers looking down on green areas of respite; cars of those coming and leaving, while those HERE walk or cycle (or in the case of the two young ones, ride); the ever present receptacles of artificial light that will set the scene aglow as night approaches. Your descriptions of cities, whether they are ones you have visited or lived in, or ones that spring Venus-like from your brain, are always rich and fascinating. When reading your work, phrases always jump out at me, like "stony places, incongruously soft." Marvelous work, greatly enjoyed and appreciated. Thank you!
jocko500
cool shot and words
jac204
Don't feel bad, it's gray, cold and rainy here in NH after being unbearably hot. The thing I appreciate more about New York as I get older is the history. The Empire State Building which once seemed so modern to me is now over 80 years old and some skyscrapers in New York are well over 100 years old. The city seems to mellow as it ages. Great capture and description.
bobrgallegos
Very nicely done!! Great lighting and composition as the lightpost lined walk leads You right into this photo.
auntietk
I know the Sears Tower (by whatever name) is your directional touchstone for Chicago, but the Hancock is mine. I look at this and know exactly where you are, even though I've never been in that exact spot (or even that park, although I did see the farthest south edge of it on a certain Friday during a certain September). Wonderful cityscape, and a most excellent dedi.
helanker
A very beautiful shot from your city, Chip. Wonderful green grass.
MagikUnicorn
Beautiful, Neat shot
sandra46
MARVELOUS IMAGE
RodS
You've made Chicago look positively green, tranquil and serene! A wonderful shot, Chip, and the words make the whole 'experience' complete. Wonderful view, and a great dedication!
danapommet
Super pano Chip. Nice green to set off the skyline. Dana
beachzz
Oh, that certain September Tara mentions; seems like it was just yesterday!! Funny how cities can seem so peaceful when you see them from a distance!!
MrsRatbag
Cities seem to inspire love-hate relationships; I mostly tend toward the hate end of the spectrum unless I'm viewing them from a distance, and then I love their profiles, shapes and colours. Great work, Chip!
-seek-
very nice city scape. one of the greatest cities om the world - i think. i grew up near there.