Wall Installations

A Wall Installation combines Photography or Video with realistic architectural elements to create a complete experience of being there - in that environment.

7th Avenue Local

During peak rush hour, hundreds of individuals gather in waves to board the next subway train. Most are strangers to each other. All have mastered the skills of navigating the growing crowds without either physical or visual contact.

Suddenly the train arrives. Fresh crowds exit and those on the platform rush in to replace them. Doors close, and there is a very brief moment of stillness, until a new group of passengers fills the platform for their turn.

Orsay View

The standard promotional photo of the Musee d' Orsay in Paris shows a view of the floor of the main gallery from far above, with no people present.

We prefer this view, where the floor is filled with enjoying the art pieces, many of which are themselves human-scale sculptures.

The walkway from which we photographed this scene is surrounded by ironworks and rivets, reflecting the original use as a railway station. We have replicated that dimensional ironwork as a framing element

of the piece.

As you come close to this 9ft. tall image, you can begin to see features that make each of them unique, and perhaps start to wonder what their personal stories are.

Stand Clear of the Doors

One woman waits for the doors to open, so she can enter the train for her destination. Three other people, none of whom know each other are prepared to quickly exit.

With hundreds of people getting on and off every train, with a new one every few minutes, somehow it all seems to work.

Snack Time at the Music Festival

This photo is one of several "Hopperesque" images where we start with a photograph and then paint over it with a digital "paintbrush" to achieve the final result. We do this with images having too much detail to properly convey the human stories we find so interesting.

In the foreground, we have a shelf with condiment bottles and seasonings, all within another snack stand from which we are viewing.

As with Hopper's famous "Night Hawks," you can view the visible faces and draw your own conclusions about each person.

City Beneath Our Feet

This piece was part of a museum exhibition on transportation.

We started by creating a mini office that could have been where a subway engineer worked. His desk has actual engineering drawings and other artifacts of his profession.

Built into the desk is what appears at first to be a large open book - actually a video screen displaying a trip through the New York subways.

This work has also been displayed in a simple rectangular enclosure atop a simulated I-beam.

Havana Artist Studio

In recent years, the much oppressed society of Cuba has allowed, and even encouraged, selected entrepreneurs to create businesses that would drive commerce from foreign tourists.

Gazing through the front window, which closely replicates the actual storefront for this artist, we see him surrounded by, and standing over, his works.

The foreground architecture borrows the design, colors and textures of the building where this studio is located.

Sunday at the Mall

For this piece, we first photographed the interior of a women's accessory store. The actual view behind those windows was Bleaker Street in New York.

Instead of that view, we made laser cutouts in the windows to display the scene as it might be if it were in a major shopping mall - in this case Toronto's Eaton Centre.

That view is provided by a transparency of the opposite image on a light panel.

The background image is much larger than the cutouts, so the viewer can come close, look left and right and down to see more of the mall.

Happy Hour

For this piece, two images were photographed just moments apart.

The restaurant in front is open for business, but so far has attracted no customers.

The one behind is in the midst of Happy Hour and has many customers.

As described for Sunday at the Mall, the foreground image has laser cutouts, enabling us to see a transparency of the opposite image on a light panel.

The transparency is a few inches back from the Happy Hour restaurant. So, as described for Sunday at the Mall, the viewer can view closer and side-to-side to see still more of the action in this scene.

Anonymous Riders

At a major subway station like this one in Times Square, trains come and leave every few minutes, with new crowds of passengers arriving and leaving.

In most ways, the station remains constant, day after day, month after month. The floor tile, the benches, the I-beams and all other details remain exactly the same. Only the people change.

We expressed this by building extremely accurate replicas of all the physical features of the platform. Then we expressed the people as transitory artist mannequins.

As an extra twist, we shaped the postures of each person to match a specific individual we had previously photographed on NY subway platforms.

Fair Food

This pieces has three layers of content.

First is the shape of the snack stand, with its simple wood construction and rainproof roof.

Then there is the food signage:- Deep Fried Oreos, Snickers and Twizzlers.

We also see the image of a woman preparing a customer's snack.

Then there is a window onto a light panel with images of other fairgoers in the distance, and another stand offering delicious Elephant Ears.

Country Store Office

In Norwich, Vermont, there is a wonderful general store called Dan and Whit's.

For many decades, this store was owned and run by one family, the head of which worked at a desk just behind the wall separating the enormous warehouse space from the front food and home supplies area.

We photographed this desk one day when its occupant was not present.

Take a closer look at the close-up image below and see how much we can learn, or guess, about the man who occupied this desk for many years.

Grand Central Commuters

At multiple exhibitions, we have asked viewers what they think is depicted in this image or people, none of who realized they had been photographed.

"I think these two guys are buddies, arguing over the season performance of the Knicks or the Mets."

"No, one of them bumped into the other and made it known he was not pleased with that fact."

"Wrong, these fellow have worked together for years and they are both griping about a recent management decision."

We will never know the truth, but it is fun to imagine the possibilities.

Evening News

If you ride in New York City taxis, you will recognize this view inside a cab at night.

This is another piece for which we use an opening in the foreground image to reveal a nighttime street scene of a busy newsstand.

The foreground image has laser cutouts, enabling us to see a transparency of the opposite image on a light panel.

In another version, we keep the same foreground and present a video display as the cab appears to drive down Broadway.

45th Street View

This photo was taken at dusk, facing east, as the western setting sun shines on Long Island City.

When we photographed from a high-floor room in a hotel, we imagined how this small window would appear in an apartment bathroom or kitchen.

Creating this piece called for highly accurate textures tiles and other physical elements.

And, to emphasize the brilliant orange-tinted evening sky, we presented the photo image on a reflective aluminum background.

Waiting for the Shuttle

The Shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central is unusual in that there is just one stop at each end. So the train pauses at each stop for several minutes.

These three men, strangers to each other, inadvertently assume their poses as:

Speak No Evil

See No Evil

Hear No Evil

Behind them is the alternate train just about to depart.