Atlanta Flatiron – Downtown Atlanta Print

Description

Is the design of the building pictured here familiar? If so, it’s because the Atlanta Flatiron shares its architecture with the more famous Flatiron Building in New York City.

The Atlanta Flatiron, formally known as the English-American Building, is actually a few years older than its famous sibling. This little Flatiron was only Atlanta’s second skyscraper, built in 1897. You can see from this photo that it has been dwarfed a long time. Yet it still stands on Peachtree Street in the Fairlie-Poplar district and is now the city’s oldest surviving skyscraper.

When I first became interested in photography, the Atlanta Flatiron was one of the first subjects I sought out. I was interested in part simply because I had seen numerous photos of the more well known one and wanted to see the local example. But also because I liked the idea of capturing local landmarks in Atlanta as I had done abroad. That was the genesis in fact of a whole series of Atlanta landmarks I did while I lived there.

Given that it was an early subject of mine, it was only fitting that as I departed Atlanta, I took one more shot of the Atlanta Flatiron once more. In this composition, I especially like how it’s towering neighbors frame this view of this Atlanta landmark. It almost feels like they are framing and protecting their older neighbor.

This art print also really illustrates Atlanta’s history of growth, building bigger and bigger as the 20th century rolled on.

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