Diverse is one of the best ways to describe New York: It is a very fascinating and popular city. Detroit Publishing Company produced a picture in New York titled 'The Tombs'. The picture is quite similar to the New York we see today, in terms of busy streets and high rates of population. This picture was taken in 1905, produced in the format of dry plate negative. Viewers will not be able see the full view of the building as the picture seems to be taken from second floor balcony and the camera focuses more on the left side buildings of the road than the right. The angle in which the picture is captured makes 'The Tombs' its focal point because it is segregated from all the other buildings in many intriguing ways. By looking at the picture, we can see that the Tombs are segregated and differentiated from the other buildings present in the alley.

Firstly, the structure of The Tombs is very different to all the other buildings on the same street. The constructions of the buildings around have usual, stable shapes such as perfect triangle on top of the building, and the building itself looks like a rectangular box. On the other hand, The Tombs has a cone shaped ceiling and this certainly brings out instability as well as irregularity. Since the cone is curved and enclosed, it prevents anyone from escaping. The cone has a sharp end to its shape and so prevents too much light from coming in. This secures people inside the Tomb and also acts a strong barrier from the rest of the world. Looking closely, the windows in the Tombs are in perfect rectangular shape, which may suggest that people inside are being barred from the outside world. Being barred prevents anyone outside from outside about what's going on inside and vice versa. So lack of communication to the outside shows that the Tombs are very secretive and reticent. However, the other building around The Tomb have slight curve detailing on top of the windows which brings out the liveliness and alertness of people to the outside world. Therefore, the variation of the use of lines and geometric shapes make the importance of The Tomb very apparent. Even though the Tombs and the other building are in the same alley, the difference in geometrical construction between them gives us an idea of how disjoint and isolated they are from each other.

Secondly, the complexion of light is an important component for developing a strong image. In fact, use of light heightens the drama displayed in the picture. Since we cannot observe any shadows of the buildings, we can assume that the sun is not present and the source of light is solely from the mild sky. This picture seems to be captured early morning as it develops a gloomy era because of the heavy mist present throughout the picture. The Tomb is only building which is very bright in the picture and this might be because of the art of the photography. In photography, black absorbs light and white reflects light. This shows that The Tomb is most likely a dark colored building as it is absorbs light making the building more visible whereas all the other building are initially white colored because white reflects light, making them appear dark in the picture. Dark colors are usually associated with power, mischief, fear, aggression, evil, death, and rebellion whereas white stands for purity, safety, and innocence. Similarly, the dark Tombs project the theme of danger and mischief because of its menace looking appearance. Hence, the variations of black and white give The Tomb a greater focus compared to all the other buildings.

Thirdly, many of the minor details are given much less importance to the main structure. In order to know more about the main structure, it is important to extract all minor details. According to this picture, the picture is taken in such a way that the people on streets are less acknowledged compared to The Tomb. The people on these streets seem to be unaware that the picture was captured and hence this gives the picture a natural, scenic view. The horse carriages present on the left and right side of the picture indicate the time period of when the picture was taken. During this era, the presence of horse carriages indicates that cars were not used as medium of transport and hence shows the minimal level of technology used compered to the amount of technology we would require to make a car. This also brings us to think about how long the construction of The Tomb took to be completed considering the fact that there would have been a minimum use of technology. In addition to this, the picture is captured at a wider focal length. This is because the road is wider at one end of the picture and narrower on the other end of the picture. As the road gets narrower, buildings seem to be out of sight as the mist covers and softens the distant buildings thus makes them featureless. This again reiterates the point that nothing is more important than The Tomb in the picture. Also, the boards on the buildings have 'OFFICES TO RENT' written on them. This introduces the fact that many buildings in that area are not occupied and suggests that people might have denied the offer of staying opposite to the Tombs, which are considered to be unsafe and dangerous. 

Lastly, the title given to the picture 'The Tomb' has immense effect on the viewers as it brings many thoughts to their mind. 'The Tomb' is the place of the dead and hence invokes terrifying images into the viewer's mind. The picture seems to be taken in a very gloomy atmosphere that makes every other building seem less significant. 

In conclusion, the Tomb stands out and behaves a focal point in this visual context. The sense of imbalance projected certainly shows that the left side of the road is more explicit than the right side of the road. Moreover, the significance of the fence around the Tomb is to separate the tomb from everything else. Fences are usually used to prevent escapes, trouble, and mischief. They also ensure security and safety. One thing the viewer is not sure is if the security is necessary for people inside the Tomb or people outside the Tomb? From previous analysis, The Tomb seems to always project mystery and danger and hence, we can conclude that the security precautions are to ensure safety of the people outside the Tomb. Along with ensuring security, the fences also act as a barrier for people living inside and ensure these won't escape. If what's inside the building comes outside, it might cause destruction to peace present outside the building. So fences are one of the most important components present in the building. By being involved in the picture, the photographer is able to bring attention and intensify the viewer's perspective on the Tomb. This way the viewers can bring out the contrast between the tombs and the other buildings.
