An exhibit of color photography by James E. Schuck in the Social Sciences lounge
explores the fascinating and often beautiful world that lies beneath our feet.
“Three Feet from the Street,” a series of a 19 two-by two-foot color
photographs of streets, sidewalks, bridge gratings, potholes and manhole covers, runs
through March 12.
Schuck's photographs show a world that has no scale, except for a blade of grass,
a cigarette butt or a footprint. Some appear as satellite photographs of mountainous
continents, others as lakes in the middle of deserts. Some look like starry skies. But a
closer look reveals that nearly all have some small clue that they are part of the city
underfoot – tire marks, pieces of broken glass, gum wrappers, paint, oil.
Schuck created the images by tripod mounting a Hasselblad pointing straight down at the
street. He used a Carl Zeiss 80 mm lens, with a minimum focus distance of three feet
– hence the name of the exhibit. His work often drew curious crowds, particularly for
one picture taken near a drive-through window at a McDonald's.