Ibrahim Mamun
Journal 4
English D394/C394 (Prof. Scanlan)
September 29th, 2015
The picture that caught my eye was the “Seventh Avenue looking south from 35th Street, Manhattan” picture, taken by Berenice Abbott. It displays a view from above, of how West 35th street looked like back in the 1930’s. It seemed like, there wasn’t much traffic back then, nor was it that crowded compared to today. Then of course, since its the main city, it has the big tall buildings, which was innovated as time went by, only so that those buildings could stay standing for a couple more years.
The reason why i found this picture interesting was because, looking at west 35th street today, it is always busy during the day time. There’s always a huge amount of traffic that flows there 24/7. By looking at the picture, one can make a visual image on how much the country had advanced as time flew. As the advancement in the economy had occurred, the country’s business firms required more people to work for them. And for that reason, the amount of employment had increased dramatically. Even to this day, people are being employed in specific areas of work, which is a good thing, but not in all cases. Because not all people possess the same skill set that the market demands.
Ibrahim I found it amazing how you interpret the “Seventh Avenue looking south from 35th Street, Manhattan” photo; when I saw that photo the thing the popped up in my mind was how depressing New York is around the 1930’s. But you saw the photo as the advancement of our economic and the country. The photo of how empty the streets were and you compare the photo to the modern days. The interpretation that you have given makes a lot of sense for modern day people who lives in busy streets and lots of traffic.
Best,
Tiffany Yang
There’s a sort of quality to a bust street. There’s always people around, and the strangers you pass by always emit a sort of feeling that you’re not alone in the big city, especially New York. A word comes to mind when it comes to strangers.
The word is Sonder, and it is a real word, however not in the official dictionary sense.
The word “Sonder” that I’m talking about comes from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, in the sense that the definition will change the way you think.
Sonder:
n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
I should also add that there’s a video about the word, if you found it interesting.