Urban Geometry: Light and Shadows

This is a shot of Manhattan's West side:

What interests me is the play of light and shadows. I took the shot in the mid-afternoon with the sun to the South (left). It was a bright day and the sun cast dramatic shadows. Notice, however, the dappled effect on the north wall of the building. That's light being reflected from the windows of a building that we can't see somewhere to the left.

The shadows are so dramatic that they create a visual rhythm that cuts across the rhythm formed by the structures themselves. That effect is more dramatic when i use photoshop to flatten the image:

In the next image I've converted the shot to a gray-scale image:

Now I increase the contrast:

Finally, just ram it all the way to black and white:

The next series of photos is of a different part of the skyline, close to the southern tip of Manhattan. You can do your own commentary on them.