A desire to visit the age when an architectural artifact was new.  Strip 
away the  accumulations of time and see the architectural skyline as it 
was.  The picture is made to look like an old black and white 
photograph, which conditions our approach to it.  We see it also as an 
artifact of the past with the power to transport us there if we make the 
appropriate mental leap.  The signs of aging of the  photo are a cue to 
try and mentally overcome that aging in order to retrieve a
glimpse from the past.

But the process of exploring old photographs and breathing new life into 
them is the process the artist is engaged in as he reconstructs this 
postcard from history.  Old photographs provide the references for the 
buildings he models; old advertisements are used to reconstruct dated 
billboards.  Of course we are never actually fooled, we never actually 
believe we are seeing an old photograph. Instead we construct an idea of 
the old postcard the artist used as his source.  Instead we enjoy the 
peak over the artist's shoulder as he sifts photographs for lost 
evidence. We watch as he lovingly applies the patina of time within
his "record" and to his record.

-Jim

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Everyone probably knows my feelings about the billboards, but I have enough
integrity to discuss the artistic merits regardless.  That said, one of the
things I liked about this image is the attention the artist put into the
finish and presentation of the image.  That is not something you see very
often.  The ageing of the image is very effective, much improved from the
artist's previous attempt in the Old Technology round.  (BTW, comparing
bluebird.jpg to this image, I did notice the "dirt" streaks on the image
are exactly identical ;-).  The artist effectively captured not the look of
a period photo, but the sense of age of the setting.

The artist also succeeded in making architecture dynamic.  The vast majority
of architectural pictures are static by their very nature.  This image has
something happening, something changing.  Not only do we have the
transition between fundamentally different architectural styles, we also
see the modern as a work in progress.

If not for the choice of billboard, I would have ranked this image in my top
5.  I bet this picture would look good as a matte print.

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