STATEMENT

One of the most exciting things about New York is the sense one gets of living within a continually-evolving historic picture - we walk in the same streets and dream in the same spaces our predecessors walked and dreamed in.

This proposal - Historic Overlay - seeks to present viewers with a glimpse of their current surroundings through the windows of the past. By using archival photographs "overlaid" upon a site, a viewer would have the opportunity to compare and contrast their present moment and location with those of a distant yesterday.

HOW IT WORKS

These proposed markers or "viewing stations" would be located near historic or otherwise significant sites, directing the viewer's gaze through a frame that exactly reproduces the view in an old photograph. A copy of that photograph, along with an explanatory text, would be mounted just below the viewing frame, in effect placing the viewer in the shoes of the photographer and allowing them, with a single glance, to witness the site - and themselves - within the flux of time.

The extent to which these viewing stations can be used to mark and engage a site is nearly endless. Examples of two potential markers are offered here (above).

Below is a sketch of the concept.