03/27/19, 2pm
Museum of the City of New York, East Harlem

The lobby space inside the Museum of the City of New York shines with elegance with its grecian columns, marble floors and victorian stairs. The light plays a central role to the feeling of awe when walking into the space. The light shines in a downward angle from the 2nd story windows. At 2pm in the afternoon the sun must be directly above the building, but the light shining from the east is still illuminating the interior. And the marble spiral staircase becomes  decorated with these stripes of light and dark.

Light bounces off the iron stairwell with the brass (?) edging well thus creating these sharp highlights. Whereas the light looks soft and edgeless when cast on the marble flooring. The light shows off the distinct materials used in the interior. For example, the black paint on the bottom of the column reflects light differently than shiny surface of the white column. The central column also shows the stark difference between the interior light, which is shone on the top of the column, and the natural light that is illuminating the bottom half of the column. Interior lighting creates a yellowish tint compared to the beautiful whiteness of sunlight.