Investigating one of the many squares found throughout the built environment.

The City Is a Work of Art

Flying through the city on my road bike, I search for my next shot. My digital camera rides safely within my courier bag as I weave in and out of gridlocked traffic. My legs, pumping like pistons, propel me through the urban landscape; my thoughts synchronize with my movements atop the steel-framed bicycle. Sustained pedaling creates a gentle rhythm, which parallels that of my breathing, that of my heart. I am one with the city. 

Cycling is the best way to explore the urban terrain. You can navigate it more efficiently this way. You move at the right pace, neither too fast nor too slow, without taking up much space or contributing to air and noise pollution. You are able to observe things motorists miss. Being inside a car—windows up, AC and radio on—cuts you off from the world. And while walking is great, you can cover more ground on a bike. Riding a bicycle is the perfect synthesis of human being and machine. 

The camera is also a machine, the optics of which simulate the functions of the human eye. Like riding a bicycle, photography exists between two poles: in this case, that of the handmade expressiveness of painting and the rapid-fire sequence of moving pictures. Photography, born from the history of Western painting, is situated between Old World modes of picture production and modern film and video. Just as riding a bicycle is the best way for exploring it, photography is the best means for me to communicate my ideas about the ever-changing city.

The city through which I ride is a massive work in progress. I am fascinated by the spectacle of it all. No single image can capture its complexity. This is why I take multiple shots—usually of square forms I come across or buildings under construction, or in ruin—and reconfigure them into photomontages. My Constructions are cubist-like composites of buildings at early phases of their creation. A similar series, Ruins, documents their demise. The Square Project consists of site-specific squares, arranged into a 3 x 3 format, recalling the gridiron street layouts in which they were found. The city—the subject of my art—also informs my writing.