Created during Metzker’s pivotal early Philadelphia period, this photograph demonstrates how photography had matured by the 1960s into a sophisticated artistic language. The image presents a solitary figure walking past what appears to be a Chevrolet Impala, set against stark architectural forms that create dramatic contrasts between light and shadow.

Metzker’s mastery of the gelatin silver process—a method that dominated black and white photography throughout the twentieth century for its stability and rich tonal range—allows every nuance of light to be captured with remarkable clarity.

Having studied under legendary photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at Chicago’s Institute of Design in the late 1950s, Metzker brought the experimental modernist approach of the “New Bauhaus” to his street photography.

This 1963 work, created the same year he moved to Philadelphia to teach at the College of Art exemplifies Metzker’s theatrical sensibility—subjects appear as if “photographed across footlights”—revealing his deep understanding of how light shapes both form and emotion.

This image embodies his belief in “the goodness of things” and his capacity to find beauty in everyday urban encounters.