Four Un-Famous Views of New York City

Between 1856 and 1858, a series of woodcut prints by the Japanese artist Hiroshige were issued, titled One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Edo being the pre-1868 name of Tokyo). This series depicts the quintessential scenes and spaces that made up the visual idea of Edo at the time. An analogous series of prints depicting New York City might include a view from the Brooklyn Bridge, the Staten Island Ferry lurching toward Battery Park, the bustle of China Town, and other such scenes which may enrich our concept of the city, but would not change or challenge it.

The number of prints in the “Non-Famous Views of New York City” shown here is dwarfed by Hiroshige’s 100 Views of Edo or Hokusai’s 36, 46, and finally 100 views of Mt. Fuji. For those unfamiliar with the block print, it is important to know that each color in a print is made with a hand-carved piece of wood. Japanese print artists such as Hiroshige or Hokusai were able to execute such astounding quantities of complicated multicolor prints because they themselves were really print designers, meaning that they painted scenes that were then adapted to the woodcut medium by teams of skilled artisans working for a publisher. I have neither a team of skilled artisans nor a publisher or benefactor, so my non-famous views are limited to four.

The goal of these prints is to depict intermediate spaces of New York City, spaces that are in between the places with which we are familiar. We forgive the street for engendering an alleyway, we excuse the building for having a rooftop and the subway for having stations. We pardon the tap water for coming down an old wooden water tank. But without these non-famous spaces the city would not function; our idea of the city is often reduced to a front or façade. However, I expect that those familiar with the city will see in the geometry of these prints a New York which is not at all unfamiliar for being non-famous.

These prints depict, from top to bottom:
-The view from a room in the Gershwin Hotel
-The view from Audubon Terrace
-156th St. at Broadway
-The 155th St. & Saint Nicholas Subway Station

Nicholas Callaway is co-editor of Caterwaul Quarterly's Arts and Culture section. He currently works at a commercial screen-printing shop and produces a small publication called Poetry 'n' Prints, available by subscription.