A neighbor and friend snapped these of the neighborhood on Saturday and they are so evocative I had to share. A. usually only takes photos when travelling, but he felt compelled to make a record of the neighborhood — and he wanted to experiment with black & white photography.

I thought they looked retro, but this was A.’s assessment: “The buildings are the same, so I guess the B&W removes some of the time context. Now we usually see color photos with enhanced vibrancy, so everything current has an aura of fake. Ironically monochrome looks real.

“The influencer vibe is definitely more recent. The clothing store ‘bread lines’ are modern, but the lines in Soho have been around since Harry Potter, Apple and Cronuts.”