Architectural Photography -- Public Art in Buffalo

It was a late spring afternoon and, after completing a shoot for an engineering client, I walked over and shot a few frames of the nearby Martin Luther King sculpture.  The massive bust dominates the surrounding landscape overseeing a public park in Buffalo’s largely African-American East Side.

As I photographed, changing the angle of the camera, the face of King seemed to convey many moods: hope, anger, resentment, patience...belief.   I had not expected to be moved by the experience.  

A portion of King’s text from his famous speech is inscribed on a plaque below: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.’

Public art, private moment, unanswered question...why are we still waiting?