Text and photographs by Stephen Harmon
If an Upper West Sider were asked to describe the color of the Upper West Side, the answer might be concrete gray or asphalt black or faded brown or reddish brick or a kaleidoscope of colors because of the small business storefronts.
In my view, all of those answers would be valid.
But ever since I moved to the neighborhood in the 1970s, I have seen its colors as yellow, red, and blue. The yellow is from the 10,000-plus taxi cabs and numerous other vehicles on the streets every day, and the yellow crosswalk signals and overhead traffic lights. It is impossible to miss the yellow! The red is from the thousands and thousands of brake lights on the cabs, trucks, vans, and other vehicles, and the red lights of the traffic signals. The blue is from the sky, when it is not gray or raining, and its reflection in thousands of windows in hi-rises, townhouses, and tenements.
Here are a few photos from my “UWS Wet Series,” illustrating this theme. I hope you find something to like.
Steve
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I lived on the Upper Westside with my family for over 40 yrs. and to this day I still remember the colors,sights,sounds of CPW. And yes the blue sky is the best of all. Due to it being “Gotham” Blue skies “hit” different!!!
They’d make good jigsaw puzzles.
Great photos you definitely captured some of the vibrant colors that make up the UWS. A clear morning sky over West End Ave and beyond is one of the best views in my opinion.
these are gorgeous
Those are lovely! Are you putting your camera behind a wet piece of glass?
Beautiful…
Beautiful!!
This is such a creative portfolio of photos of our marvelous neighborhood! I hope that there is a competition in which you can enter your favorites. We just returned from Madrid, where there is an exquisite proliferation of trees, and so the first photo I took was of a golden tree down my block. Colors, thankful for colors and talented photographers like you!
Gorgeous photos. Just loved the view we have all been there. Thank you.
Beautiful unscripted interpretation of your surroundings. Very special gift to be able to see beyond what most of us miss. Refreshing, invigorating, thank you for sharing!
Welcome back. You are/were missed. You have such a keen eye for the UWS. Thanks. 😊 I
Your paintings, your eye, is fantastic!
Love them!
There’s an awful lot of white in your red, yellow and bue.
Very cool.
I enjoyed these. Thanks for sharing them.
Marvelous photos!!!!!!!!!!