New York City in the 1970s

Richard Welling. Times Square, New York City. 2012.284.694.

Despite not being alive in the 1970s and having only spent a limited amount of time in New York City, photographs of it in the ‘70s are some of my favorite things on earth. (Actually, really any photos from ‘70s do it for me; the Environmental Protection Agency’s 1972-1978 project, Documerica, is one of the most awesome collection of photographs ever. It was originally conceived as a way of documenting subjects of environmental concern across the United States, and while it does do that, it also seems to capture the spirit of the decade. I think. I wasn’t there.) So, Richard Welling, who I’ve written about before, was into the architecture of New York City and photographed it with his SX-70 Polaroid camera in the 1970s.

The Plane!

The newspaper was yellowed, but the image looked hauntingly familiar. Did you know that there was an earlier plane crash into a tall building in New York City than in 2001? I certainly did not until Mavis Davis brought in a small collection of newspapers, a short memoir, and a letter related to the event.

An airplane strikes the Empire State Building, July 28, 1945. Ms 101758