Every city in the world has a unique skyline defined by its architecture, open spaces, and topography. Yet, seeing a skyline from afar versus walking the city from within are two separate experiences. To explore this discrepancy, I photograph cities from the ground looking straight up. The Straight Up series is a microcosm of the familiar skyline, accessible to anyone who stops, looks up, and takes note.
Photographing cities with the camera leveled and pointed straight up, offers a new way to see them. The resulting images show open spaces between buildings, lamp posts, street signs, trees, etc., and create unique shapes. These shapes repeat, subtly change, and create a cadence of visual forms, familiar yet distinct for each city. Grouping these images together forms a type of language—a spatial fingerprint of symbols—that reflect the history, culture, economics, and needs of the city as reflected in its built environment. Each city is photographed in the same manner, and as the viewpoints are exactly the same, images within and between cities are easily compared, matched, or contrasted.
The concept for Straight Up, born in New York City, has now grown to encompass twenty-four cities in thirteen countries. Please visit the dedicated site to this project at www.straightup.co