Cary Building
Built in the 1850s, this five-story cast-iron beauty on Chambers Street is one of Tribeca's finest examples of Italian Renaissance Revival commercial architecture, with a twin-facade design that rewards close attention to detail. The rhythmic repetition of arched windows, ornate columns, and decorative ironwork gives you strong geometric patterns to work with, especially when you use a longer focal length to compress the layers of the facade. Shooting straight on from across the street gives you a clean, symmetrical composition, while moving to a low angle with a wide lens emphasizes the building's verticality and the depth of the ironwork relief. Overcast days are ideal here since diffused light eliminates harsh shadows and lets the texture and detail of the cast iron read clearly. The building sits in a walkable stretch of lower Manhattan with good sidewalk access on both sides of the street. (Tribeca, Manhattan, New York City, United States)
