by Claire O'Neill

Two weeks ago we saw what New York Harbor would have looked like way back in Henry Hudson's day. Now fast-forward to see how time has rendered that lush landscape in steel and concrete. The Edge of New York: Waterfront Photographs, an exhibition currently at the Museum of the City of New York, shows the ever-evolving landscape of New York's urban coast, with both historical images and the work of contemporary landscape photographers Diane Cook and Len Jenshel.

  • Plymouth Street, DUMBO [Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass], Brooklyn
    Hide caption
    Plymouth Street, DUMBO [Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass], Brooklyn
    Photos by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, 2008
  • Jacob Riis Pier, Queens
    Hide caption
    Jacob Riis Pier, Queens
  • Gantry Plaza State Park, Queens
    Hide caption
    Gantry Plaza State Park, Queens
  • Red Hook, Brooklyn
    Hide caption
    Red Hook, Brooklyn
  • Arlington Marsh, Staten Island
    Hide caption
    Arlington Marsh, Staten Island
  • Riverside Park South, Manhattan
    Hide caption
    Riverside Park South, Manhattan
  • Staten Island Yankees, Richmond County Bank Ballpark, Staten Island
    Hide caption
    Staten Island Yankees, Richmond County Bank Ballpark, Staten Island
  • Collapsed Transfer Station, Riverside Park South, Manhattan
    Hide caption
    Collapsed Transfer Station, Riverside Park South, Manhattan
  • Queens West Development, Long Island City, Queens
    Hide caption
    Queens West Development, Long Island City, Queens
  • Little Red Lighthouse, Fort Washington Park, Manhattan
    Hide caption
    Little Red Lighthouse, Fort Washington Park, Manhattan

1 of 10

View slideshow i

Cook and Jenshel's project, several years in the making, is about "the confluence of recreation and commerce, development and conservation, nature and architecture," as Jenshel put it. They were granted special access to areas previously restricted along the waterfront, bringing a rarely seen part of the city to public attention. Over the course of just a few years, they've documented many parts of the waterfront evolving from post-industrial banks to recreational hot spots, although much of it remains in disrepair.

Fitting with this week's theme of married photographers, Cook and Jenshel have been collaborating since the early '90s and are two of America's pre-eminent landscape photographers. Dilapidated buildings, railroad tracks and shipping yards may not be typically associated with traditional landscape photography. But Cook and Jenshel focus on man's interaction with the natural landscape — examining our footprints while omitting us from the frame.

New York waterfront, 1936

Berenice Abbott, Downtown Skyport, Foot of Wall Street, 1936 Courtesy Museum of the City of New York

Cook works almost exclusively in black and white and Jenshel does color, but somehow the alternating rhythm works. Studying with the likes of Garry Winogrand, Jenshel was one of those first photographic rebels to decide that color had a place in fine art photography in the 1970s. Cook, on the other hand, got her start in painting and sculpture before an internship with esteemed photographer Larry Fink. Together they are two of the foremost living fine art photographers, still working in medium format film and frequently crossing over into commercial work.

Learn more about the exhibition, which will run through November 29, on the museum's Web site. And be sure to check out the photographers' site.

Have an idea? Pitch it!

The Picture Show on Facebook or on Twitter