Introduction to Roll E

 

Circa Fall 1956

 

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No clocks, very little sunshine this week, very few African Americans, good turnout of furs, only a couple of theatre marquees. This roll is tentatively dated Fall 1956 on the basis of a reference on the marquee of the Telenews Theatre to the Suez Crisis. No appearances yet of cars with dual headlamps which first appeared in late 1957 as the 1958 models. If one or more of the newspaper headlines can be matched, this roll may be more precisely dated. This entire roll is shot on the various corners of Union Square. Hundreds of shots are of people crossing streets. Hundreds of shots are fuzzy due either to camera movement and/or slow shutter speed. Among the more interesting, scattered throughout the roll, are people in front of the Signature Room newly opened in September 1956. It must have been new and popular at this time. It is unusual for Selle to photograph people in the doorway of buildings - in this case mostly on their way out. Compare this location for example, to people photographed in proximity to Gene Compton's Restaurant at 43 Powell nearby. Or to the venerable Techau Tavern next to the Manx Hotel at 225 Powell. Is it the pedestrians' patterns that are different? or the photographer's? or both?

This roll is attributed to Selle. His heavy use of relatively fixed positions is evident throughout. His fastidious exposing of a black frame after every hundreth ticket is also well in hand here - he only forgets twice.

Roll E is Ansco Supreme Safety "42". The ticket numbers begin at H 131,000 and end at H 132,472.