JF Ptak Science Books LLC  Post 437

This photograph was made in 1887 by the prolific if not mysterious* John S. Johnston, taken from Amsterdam Avenue (between 147th and 148th streets) , and looking east to the Harlem River and the Bronx.  My guess is that there was a three- or four-story apartment on the west side of Amstersdam and Mr. Johnston set himself up on the roof with his view camera to make this shot.  As a photographer Johnston’s interests extended to naval/nautical scenes–making photographs of the American fleet as well as racing yachts and such–and recording creeping uirbanism into formerly rural areas in the northern reaches of NYC. 

Of interest here is the brand-new Mount Saitn Vincent Hotel (at left), and the small animal pen located right in fron of it.  The other interesting deal is that there is a considerable amount of trash that has blown up against the fences (especially at bottom) from the winds coming in off of the river–from where I sit it seems as though there might be a foot or two of trash leaning up against the fence. Actually one of the things that my eyes are trained for now is looking at the trash in the streets of old cityscape photographs–it is really remarkable how much stuff winds up on the street and preserved foreverish in photos….one of my favorite images, which I cannot put my hands on this very moment, shows a few fellows leaning up against the side of a newly opened “New York Store” in Austin, and in the gutter in front of them are four ratty old shoes strewn amidst the other less recognizeable trash.

The other interesting bit is the found portrait of the man scene leaning out of his second-floor window in the building at bottom right.  Unfortunately I’m not working with the original so I’m picking up a lot of grain from the halftone, but after playing with it a little in photoshop I’ve come up with a reasonable look at this man, who must’ve just been watching Johnston getting his exposure ready.  I have little doubt that if the original were available that we’d be able to discern facial characteristics.  (Actually, I’m looking for myself again–I’ve found images of me lurking in tiny bits of large crowds in old photographs; sometimes the resemblence is astonishing, really.  This guy already looks big abd bearded and bald, which is most of my story.  If you drop in my eyes, there I am.)

*Johnston lived not far from where this picture was made:  his addresses have been given as 783 Broadway, 1263 Broadway and  508 W. 158th St.  He died at Niagra Falls, where he went to recuperate from a “severe cold” that he caught while making photos at a horse race.  On his deathbed, he refused to identify any friends, or family, and would not give the address of his home.  The obituary reported that he did have a wife and daughter, but they had been estranged “for some time”.  I can respect a man whose wish is to go out very quietly.  (I don’t know the story about his identification and how the obituary came to be written–that woul dmake an interesting tale.)