Peculiar, Found-Art Image: Hight Rises, Straight Stubby NYC Ferry and a Lonely Tank

JF Ptak Science Books LLC    Post 294

It is unusual in my experience to stumble upon three unusual, found-art images (as in the three below) that are found on one page of a magazine.  In this case, it is the Illustriete Zeitung (Leipzig), issue 4299 (page 178) for 1915, and the three photographs are all quite atonal, somehow--they're just not quite "right", and all perhaps for different reasons.

The first image shows this unusual private ferry in New York City harbor--how this made any sense, I don't know, especially since that water is pretty choppy and this vessel looks not terrifically seaworthy.  The passenger (or driver at least) and the boatman are also very, very straight!  I honestly just don't know anything about single-car ferries in the harbor so late in the game as 1915.

I'm not sure why this image strikes me as being so peculiar in the second image--perhaps it is simply the retreating perspective, or the fact that it looks like a drawing, or the placards along the construction fence at the bottom of the photo; or maybe its the only solitary-looking  figure set against all of those (strangely opened) windows.  Whatever it is, that is odd or somewhat "off", I like it.

The third image is just quite and odd.  Is that bridge portable and expandable?  Is it actually supporting the tank and not failing? It is just a flat-out uncommon composition.

Perhaps the unifying factor here is the very apparent "quietness" of the pictures, and their solitude, even in the midst of the NYC harbor.

 

Comments

[Jeff]

Good eye, John. I really do want to shout, "Photoshop!" The ferry IS odd. It's possible the men are absurdly straight because they're scared stiff. That craft does not look stable. I suppose it's possible that the bulk of the craft is actually below water, but if the ferry is real, that small wake implies a propeller right under stern. There IS an appropriate bow wave ... it could be a very slow ferry for only the calmest waters, but it sure looks as if one passing boat could turn it over.

I want more info about the nice factory or apartment building. It DOES look like a drawing in the perspective. The roof lines of the warehouses or carriage houses or garages below are exactly lined up as if with a ruler. I like seeing the preponderance of open windows in the upper floors. Many a modern building needs working windows that they don't have. Buildings are still designed without working windows, even though every HVAC system ever designed fails to perform adequately. But I digress. I think the picture is midday on a Sunday ...

[John Ptak]

Thanks Jeff! And nope, no photoshop, never used it on this site, and really haven't needed it. Although a dog standing on the top of the car would've rounded out the picture nicely. A dog smoking a pipe. And yes, it is just stinkin' odd....why a ferry with room for one car in NYC? Maybe they were just giants, like 15 feet tall, and couldn't fit on the "regular" ferry.

[Jeff]

Oh, I didn't mean that YOU used Photoshop. I meant the editors at Illustrete Zeitung, on the prowl for more and more readers, taking license, eroding journalistic standards. The National Enquirer was born of something.

[John Ptak]

Well, believe me, its tempting to jump on some of these things with a magic wand, give them just a touch here and there. I'll have to save that for my mirror site where I make up everything.