Charles E. Rotkin (1916-2004)
Piccadilly Circus
American: c. 1956-58
Black and white photograph
16 x 20 inches
Provenance: Estate of the Artist
Price on Request
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Piccadilly Circus, London, England
Vintage Aerial Photograph by Charles E. Rotkin
Vintage Aerial Photograph by Charles E. Rotkin
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Original aerial photograph taken by Charles E. Rotkin of Piccadilly Circus in London, England, for his book Europe: An Aerial Close-Up.
This photograph is published on page 32 of that work, with Rotkin’s description:
"Piccadilly Circus is London’s Times Square, and Londoners rightly hold that sooner or later everyone in the world can be met there. This gay center is a good, if confusing place in which to celebrate New Year’s Eve or, no less obviously, to enjoy a late pint after the cinema or the theater. If you are young, exuberant, enjoy a climb … you can express yourself by a casual scaling of the Statue of Eros. …From this 'hub of the universe,' many well-known streets radiate. Upper left is Haymarket, running into Coventry Street (which if followed to the left goes to Leicester Square). The triangular building to the left of Eros is a movie house, the London Pavilion, and across the Circus is the Criterion Theater. Shaftsbury Avenue with its theaters (Lyric, Globe, Apollo and others) extends into the lower left. Regent Street and Lower Regent Street are on the right."
Rotkin was a respected and prolific documentary photographer, widely published during the golden age of pictorial magazines, as well as in corporate publications. The works that brought Rotkin the greatest renown, however, were his pioneering aerial photography collections, Europe: An Aerial Close-Up (1958) and The U.S.A.: An Aerial Close-Up (1962, 1968). These books captured the popular imagination at the time, thrilling the public with novel perspectives of familiar places and the beauty of both the natural and the man-made environment. Rotkin can be seen as one of the heirs to the 19th- and early 20th-century tradition of bird's-eye views of American towns drawn by itinerant artists in the pre-aviation era and often made into prints. Of course, the earlier artists' work, though convincingly drawn and detailed, were typically imaginative projections based on their studies of the town from the ground. These became obsolete with the advent of the airplane and helicopter, which offered actual bird's-eye views, along with cameras that could take pictures at split-second shutter speeds. Rotkin was one of the early pioneers of the new medium and technique. His work remains significant as an early example of aerial photography with an artistic purpose, and also as historical documents of places that in many cases have significantly changed in the ensuing decades.
Read more biographical information here.
Condition: Our Rotkin photographs were used by the photographer himself, often in connection with the production of his books. Therefore, they have, to varying degrees, the usual expected light toning, wear, handling, soiling, soft creases, bumped edges, etc. Some have short marginal tears. Many were mounted on foam core by Rotkin. Many have Rotkin's markings -- stamps, inscriptions, or labels -- on the verso. For a detailed condition report including the markings on this photograph, contact us and be sure to include the title of the photo in your inquiry.