BMT DIVISION – Brooklyn Elevated Station View 1976 Gelatin Silver Photograph

A striking 1976 street photograph by Thomas Alan Schmidler capturing the layered textures of urban transit life in New York City. The image features a view beneath an elevated train line, with a steel girder diagonally bisecting the frame and signage for the "BMT Division" — a nod to the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, once a major operator in the city’s subway system.

A solitary figure leans over a car roof in the foreground while faded posters, rusted signage, and the skeletal structure of the el track evoke a gritty portrait of mid-70s Brooklyn. Schmidler’s composition compresses industrial architecture, human presence, and street-level decay into a scene that is both documentary and poetic. This is a hand-developed vintage gelatin silver print, made by the artist during his lifetime.