Born and bred in New York City, photographer Langdon Clay developed a fascination with the City's lonely cars in the mid-1970s. Between 1974 and 1976, Clay hit the streets of New York capturing colorful cars in front of colorful storefronts for an impressive collection of photos.
Clay recently compiled all of these 40-year old photos into a photobook titled Langdon Clay: Cars: New York City, 1974–1976.
Shot in Kodachrome with a Leica and deftly lit with then-new sodium vapor lights, the pictures feature a distinct array of makes and models set against the gritty details of their surrounding urban and architectural environments, and occasionally the ghostly presence of people. “I experienced a conversion of sorts in making a switch from the ‘decisive moment’ of black and white to the marvel of color, a world I was waking up to every day,” Clay writes of this work. “At the time it seemed like an obvious and natural transition. What was less obvious was how to reflect my world of New York City in color … I discovered that night was its own color and I fell for it.”
The hardcover Langdon Clay: Cars: New York City, 1974–1976 is available for purchase on Amazon.
via Amazon
Matt Coneybeare
Editor in Chief
Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.
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