The artwork “Times Square, New York” by Andreas Gursky, created in 1997, is a photograph that exemplifies Gursky’s approach to capturing the contemporary human experience. Gursky is known for his large-scale, high-resolution photographs that often explore themes of industry, globalization, and modernity.
In this photograph, we see what appears to be an abstraction at first glance, reflecting Andreas Gursky’s style of transforming real-world scenes into almost pattern-like compositions. On closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the image depicts the repetitive architecture of a building. The view is upwards, showing multiple stories of the building’s facade with a multitude of balconies or similar structures. This repetition creates a rhythm throughout the piece and emphasizes the uniformity and scale often found in urban environments, particularly within the context of Times Square, which is known for its dense, towering structures.
The photograph is characterized by a rich palette of colors, with earthy tones dominating the architectural elements and contrasting against a mellow, perhaps artificially colored sky. This color contrast further heightens the sense of an environment engineered by human hands. In the lower section, there are small figures which give a sense of scale to the massive structure, highlighting the contrast between human size and the grandeur of urban development.
By choosing such a perspective and cropping, Gursky calls into question the individuality of urban living spaces and the experiences of the people within them, turning the building into a grid that can symbolize the homogeneity of the urban experience. The artwork, through its size and scope, invites the viewer to consider the role of the individual in the larger context of the city landscape.
