Christian Catafago

Our son Alexis had just been born and we wanted him to meet his uncle living in New York; we were there for a week, for the first time without an agenda of meetings.

I walked the streets of New York.

As I already knew Manhattan quite well for its monuments, museums and architecture, I was familiar with the photographs of William Klein, Ralph Gibson, Bruce Gilden, Weegee, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Garry Winogrand, Bruce Gilden and many more, but what stroke me was a recurrent element to all neighborhoods: the water tanks dot the city and contrast with their cylindrical form the angular buildings, a reflection of the urban grid.

These water tanks started to appear as dots on a squared chessboard to my eyes, hidden in plain sight. In this new world, these simple structures seemed dark and almost antiquated, with the glittering city below. I photographed them all, going as much up and downtown as I could walk.

Piranesi from the sidewalk; the famous architect and engraver was making his view of urbanism more present as humans would abandon the street in the early evening hours and were alone with all those giant water tanks. Allowing discreetly the city to live, tin a world of movement, these were indeed gentle and irremovable giants.