richard marc rubin - flight: saint louis to laguardia

November 4 to December 2, 2023

Ferguson, Missouri, digital print

About Flight: Saint Louis to LaGuardia

Soon after takeoff the plane entered the clouds and remained above them until western Ohio. From there to New York the sky was mostly clear. The ground was covered with partially melted snow, often forming unexpected patterns.

Sullivan, Ohio, digital print

Starting with a remarkably clear photo of an industrial section of Ferguson, Missouri, the images show the varied terrain across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City. They take you from the flat farmland and small towns of western Ohio past Lake Erie to the urban centers of Akron and Youngstown. From there the flight passes over the mountains of western Pennsylvania where small communities appear along the banks of the Susquehanna River. In some images, the snow, land, and trees form abstract patterns. Also visible is a nuclear power plant in central Pennsylvania. Later in the flight, there are solar farms in New Jersey, one of which appears to float above the land as it is seen through wisps of clouds. As the plane approaches New York, there is a dramatic view of the New Jersey coast along Raritan Bay just across from Staten Island. Passing Staten Island and the Verrazzano Bridge the flight heads straight across Brooklyn and Queens for LaGuardia Airport, yielding striking views of Brooklyn, of New York Bay (including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Lower Manhattan), of the bridges over the East River, of a large cemetery in Queens with a view of the Manhattan skyline in the background, and of the trains and thoroughfare that crisscross the dense Queens landscape.

Successfully shooting with a small digital camera out the window of a passenger aircraft is a difficult task, as the shot quality could be easily compromised. Richard worked with these images to create surprisingly clear and crisp images. They reveal the land from 30,000 feet and also create abstract patterns, particularly those where snow lay on the ground, as well as sharp delineated structures. The landscape varied from rural to industrial to cityscapes. Both the technical work required to create the images and choice of images contributes to their success as art pieces.