All images by Sebastien Del Grosso. Used with Creative Commons permission.
New York City is home to some of the world’s best known architectural landmarks that are essentially fused into the city’s history and identity. Paris-based graphic designer and photographer Sebastien Del Grosso presents these notable sites of architecture in a different light in a moody, black and white photography project.
When we speak of photography work featuring New York City, we immediately think of the monochrome street photographs that show its busy and vibrant city life. Every now and then, however, we also see projects focused on the eclectic mix of architecture in the city. Sebastien’s New York Black Series is one such body of work, but perhaps presents it in a way not all of us are used to.
Out of all the skyscrapers and structures crammed in the most populous city in the United States, Sebastien’s picked a handful of the most iconic ones: the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building, the One World Trade Center, 8 Spruce Street, and of course, the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. To create his New York Black Series, he isolated each of these iconic buildings from the rest of New York’s cityscape. With the help of digital art techniques, he draped them in a dark and moody atmosphere set against what looks like a studio background.
Almost like noir portraits, Sebastien’s work shows a more dramatic side to the architecture icons we often see bathed in bright light and set against clear blue skies. Much like portraits, however, this treatment places emphasis on some of the elements that make them iconic, such as their form, lines, shapes, and textures. Overall, I think it works nicely in this regard.
So far, Sebastien has done this style for some of his city’s own architectural icons, and I should say it looks slightly more eerie.
If you’re curious about his other creative projects, do check out Sebastien Del Grosso’s photography and graphic design on his Behance portfolio and website.
