The zigzag staircase

photo by Chien-Chi Chang

Saw this photo in a magazine many years ago. Shot in New York Chinatown, I thought this must have been taken 20 years ago. (I've not been to New York before seeing this image.)

I was taken by surprise when I next see this photo again. This time it was as a huge poster in front of National Museum of Singapore. I never did forget this image after many years! Chien-Chi Chang is the great photographer, belonging to the prestigious Magnum group. I think the works of all great masters leave you with a deep impression, whether or not you know his name in the first place. See more of his works here.

See the zigzag staircase in the background of Chang's photo? For those who are not familiar, these are actually fire escape emergency exits. The main subject in Chang's image is also sitting on one of these.

The strangest thing is that the moment I see these zigzag staircases in my recent trip to New York, I thought of Chang's image again. No foreign workers eating at the staircase this time, but I must shoot one of these staircases as my own interpretation of New York old cityscape, especially when I thought these old structure no longer exist in modern Mahanttan.

Love the lighting when I was shooting this.

Here's another image of an emergency staircase, a very different style.

photo from Rear Window