Like impressionist paintings, construction sites can exude beauty only at some distance from the beholder. This photograph of the jobsite of 270 Park Avenue, a 1,388-ft-tall, 2.5-million-sq-ft skyscraper in Manhattan that will become JP Morgan Chase & Co. headquarters, is an example. The photographer, Meghan T. Krupka, an associate at Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, is the project’s engineer of record.
While portable toilets, full garbage bins and puddles of water are visible details, they are not noticeable in the broader context. The brightly colored red concrete mixer trucks, orange and yellow safety vests of workers scattered through the shot and the glow of light at the apex of several diagonal steel beams give the photo a painted quality.