In A Burst Of Flames! Richard Rothstein

'Summer dies like the Phoenix, in a burst of flames!'

Every Autumn I strive to find images and subjects to mark what has become my favorite season and time of the year. Usually I get around to putting together these fall themed posts sometime in October before the first snow hits. This year, obviously I missed it but given I still have one day until December upon us decided I still had a few hours before I missed my window.

Last month after viewing an image from photographer Richard Rothstein, I knew whose images I wanted to use. Richard's unique vision of Manhattan, not to mention the men who reside there, are a favorite subject of mine to cover on FH. Although the men Richard shoots are always the focus, the more time I spend with his work, the more the world he surrounds them in, takes over my imagination.

This world is not just the city of New York, it's streets, it's boroughs and landmarks. It is bigger than that, bigger what is and also encompasses what was. I remember when I was a teenager I had a poster in my bedroom of the city. It was a New York not so much of those who live and work there, but a New York that was packaged and sold to the rest of the world through music, movies and cultural lure. I spent hours looking at and dreaming of that city on the poster.

I think lure also plays a big role in my love of Autumn. Not every day from September through December is crisp and colorful. They all don't involve pumpkin patches and skipping down leaf blown cobblestone paths on the way to a harvest fair. But... the fact that in those few months there are a few moments, when the sun hits the water and the surrounding foliage is at it's most colorful, cascading my surroundings with vibrant reds, yellow's and oranges, make the even the dreariest of Autumn days just a bit more magical.

Richard has been capturing the Lord Of The Concrete Jungle for awhile now. I first posted about his journey with Tarzan back in July (HERE:). These images of Tarzan were taken in October and the world which surrounds the King of the Apes is one of incredible color and detail, all which help make-up of the lure that is Autumn. The images, especially when enlarged, captures all the magic and imagination as the poster that used to hang on my wall.

Richard Rothstein's Manhattan Men