The evolution of Manhattan through Reiner Leist's window

Reiner Leist began taking photos from his Manhattan window in 1995, shortly after arriving in New York as a graduate student. This gallery presents the photos he took on September 14 of each year from 1995 to 2015. The same selection was released in 2016 as a book titled "Reiner Leist, Window."

Reiner Leist's apartment is located in mid-town next to Madison Square Garden and between Port Authority and Penn Station.

Leist uses two full-plate cameras for "Window." One originated in London in the 1890s, while the other model was built in the US in the 1920s.

Leist says he chose to use historic cameras to blur the boundaries between the past and present and create tension in the images.

While Leist has taken photos nearly every day for over two decades, there are a few gaps on September 14. In the book and exhibition, these are represented with a photogram.

Just one year later, New York and Washington, DC would be hit with terror attacks that would claim nearly 3,000 lives and alter world politics.

Reiner Leist was out of town on September 11, 2001 but quickly returned to New York. This nighttime photo taken just three days later reflects both a sense of shock and calm in the aftermath of the tragedy.

One year after the attacks, there was still a gaping hole in lower Manhattan. Leist's photo reveals subtle changes, but also a sense of continuity.

Leist took photos at all times of day and in every weather.

After a tragedy, "normalcy becomes a highly valued good," says Reiner Leist, adding that his routine of taking pictures was part of his return to normalcy after 9/11.

"One way of understanding my 'Window' project is to see it as a portrait of the city," the photographer told DW.

In 2006, the first decade of Reiner Leist's project was published as a book titled "Eleven Septembers."

Although Leist has lived in the US for over two decades, he still spends a lot of time in Germany. With "Window," he says, "I feel I'm trying to maintain some kind of distance and closeness at the same time."

While facades have changed and new buildings have gone up, New York's "fundamental structure has somehow remained identical," says Leist.

Leist lived in Cape Town before relocating to New York in the mid-1990s. At the time he called New York a "tough town that required respect."

Like "Window," Reiner Leist's other works tend to be long-term and often examine the relationship between individuals and society. For his renowned "American Portraits" project he traveled across America for seven years and juxtaposed his portraits of the people he met with their childhood photos.

A decade after 9/11, life goes on in the city that never sleeps.

Leist's mid-town apartment used to be part of a manufacturing district that was opened to residential use in the mid-1990s when commercial space was left unused.

Located on the 26th floor of the building, Leist's window offers a practically unparalleled view over Manattan.

In the book and exhibition, 2014 is also represented with a photogram.

Reiner Leist continues to take pictures from the window of his 8th Avenue apartment.