View from The John Hancock Tower, a photo from Massachusetts, Northeast

Photographer's Note

The view over Boston, Massachusets, from the John Hancock Tower.

The John Hancock Tower, officially named Hancock Place and colloquially known as The Hancock, is a 60-story, 790-foot (241 metre) skyscraper in Boston, United States. The tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the firm I. M. Pei & Partners and was completed in 1976. In 1977, the American Institute of Architects presented the firm with a National Honor Award for the building and in 2011 conferred on it the AIA Twenty-five Year Award. It has been the tallest building in Boston for more than 30 years, and is the tallest building in New England.

Its street address is 200 Clarendon Street. The company uses both "Hancock Place" and "200 Clarendon Street" as mailing addresses for offices in the building. John Hancock Insurance was originally the main tenant of the building, but the insurance company announced in 2004 that some offices would relocate to a new building at 601 Congress Street, in Fort Point, Boston.

This picture was taken from the observation deck of the John Hancock Tower in September 1985. The observation deck was closed to the public after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The highest observation deck now open to the public in Boston is in the Prudential Tower.

The original was shot on Agfachrome slide film and subsequently digitised. Apologies for any technical shortcomings and lack of sharpness due to ageing and the transfer to digital.

tedesse, Sonata11, timecapturer, ikeharel, Cricri, jlbrthnn, pierrefonds, Graal, macjake, delpeoples, edcone has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ACL1978 (6103) 2013-01-31 3:20

Hello Stephen - I was about to say as I looked at this that I was surprised to learn that the Hancock Tower had reopened! A great shame that it remains closed this long after the initial attack, robbing tourists and Bostonians alike of the best view in the city.

Your nearly 20 year old slide holds up well enough for me to have thought at first glance this was a newly taken shot, so well done both on the original and the transfer. That's especially true given that this was also taken through observation deck glass! Thanks.

Andrew

tedesse (22493) 2013-01-31 4:13

Hello Stephen!
Excellent POV and DOF, an fantastic panorama of Boston, beautiful colors and light. Very well done.
I cordially greet
Tadeusz

Fis2 (73646) 2013-01-31 4:30

Witaj Stephen!
Wonderful view, beautiful panorama.
Good colors and light.
I like bridge.
Photo is unsharpen :(
Nice afternoon
Krzysztof

Sonata11 (28758) 2013-01-31 4:35

Hello Stephen,
this cityscape is striking beautiful with the colors, sharpness, clarity of so many interesting architecture. Very beautiful and attractive shot. Perfectly well done. TFS.
Warm regards,
Barbara

cornejo (18714) 2013-01-31 5:02

Salut Stephen, photo très bonne et belle de ce spectacle intéressant, une belle image très bien capturé et encadré, avec une bonne technique et de haute qualité. Chaming travail parfaitement accompli, félicitations mon ami. Merci de partager ce travail intéressant.

Bon après-midi et week-end heureux.
Meilleurs voeux du sud de l'Espagne.
Angel.

Sergiom (40169) 2013-01-31 5:30

Bonjour Stephen,

Cela fait déjà un petit moment et le paysage urbain a beaucoup changé depuis. Le scan est bien réussi et la lumière était très belle.

Amicalement

Serge

timecapturer (31278) 2013-01-31 6:52

Hi Stephen
I expect the view from here now is a lot different as more and more tall buildings seem the norm nowadays. Nevertheless it is a wonderful shot with so much to look at. Another super digitised slide shot.

Regards - Brian.

ikeharel (38090) 2013-01-31 8:10

Boston is an amazing town, Stephen, and we do not get much to see on TE.
I know the location and hight of this tower - it doe's bring a beautiful view above town.
The old scanned is excelent preserved photo, impressive scenery.
Ike

Cricri (87288) 2013-01-31 12:33

Hi Stephen
Quelle magnifique vue panoramique, étendue et profonde, pleine de détails, de couleurs, un scan très réussi
Belle soirée
cricri

jlbrthnn (79787) 2013-01-31 13:34

Bonsoir Stephen,
La photo est d'excellente qualité, nette et profonde. C'est une belle description de la ville. Beau travail. Bravo.
Bonne soirée
Amicalement
Joël

carlo62 (13544) 2013-01-31 14:24

Ciao Stephen
nonostante l'età, l'immagine si presenta ancora bene, la panoramica è molto bella grazie al pov.
Sarebbe interessante confrontarla con una foto recente.
Saluti
Carlo

pierrefonds (48675) 2013-01-31 16:23

Hi Stephen,

The downward point of view is giving depth to the composition. It is also showing the details and colors of this aera of the city of Boston. The good luminosity is enhancing the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

dkmurphys (37419) 2013-01-31 22:26

Bonjour Stephen,
Spectacular panorama of one of the most beautiful cities of USA. I like the colors a lot. Well taken.

Daniel

Graal (89434) 2013-01-31 23:10

Hi Stephen,
amazing post card from your archive. Fine POV on the tower. Nice presentation from Boston. Pleasant colours, fine weather you had. Pity that image is a bit unsharpen.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

emka (59010) 2013-01-31 23:54

Hi Stephen,

The scanning job is very good here. I find an excellent quality as for the so old a photo. Beautiful panorama from the very high POV. As I read, there were problems with Hancock Tower as the window panels detached and crashed to the pavement. They investigated the problem and found that
the failure of the glass was due to oscillations and repeated thermal stresses caused by the expansion and contraction of the air between the inner and outer glass panels which formed each window; the bonding between the inner glass, reflective material, and outer glass was so stiff that it was transmitting the force to the outer glass (instead of absorbing it), causing the glass to fail. I had the photo of it in my physics book.
Warm regrads

Malgo

amaryllis (30381) 2013-02-01 7:20

Bonjour
une belle photo et perspective sur cette belle ville, avec ce pont et un cadrage en plongée qui nous permet de voir beaucoup de détails
Merci de ce partage
Juliette

macjake (39998) 2013-02-01 10:28

Hi Stephen
oh how 9/11 has changed the world!!
its a shame that such sumilar observation decks are no longer open to the public.
On one hand I can understand, but there also comes a point where its overdone.
anyways, despite all the transferring over from an old slide, i think it worked out well.
never seen this view before...we don't get to see alot of Boston on TE for some reason.
thanks for this peek into the city!
cheers
craig

siudzi (24689) 2013-02-01 12:03

Hi Stephen,
What a nice and interesting view on this amazing city! Your POV was perfectly selected to created such a wonderful picture. Well done. TFS.

Best,
Gosia

delpeoples (45717) 2013-02-02 0:57

Hi dear Stephen

I can see you've been raiding your archives again. And again, the quality is really good, despite the years and the elements that it has withstood. The depth is good, I like your POV alot and the colours are lovely.

Thanks for sharing, I hope you're enjoying your weekend
Lisa

SnapRJW (19188) 2013-02-02 9:28

Hello Stephen - A pity the Hancock Tower remains closed as the viewpoint is fabulous judging by this shot. Considering this is a scanned slide the quality and detail is very good. A city I would love to visit someday. Enjoy your weekend Rosemary

rogerl (940) 2013-03-21 9:56

Stephen, this is a very clear view of the city. As you note, the colors are a little muted, and the sky an odd brown, but that really does not detract from this nice panorama. It is really a shame that the Hancock tower observation deck closed; it provided an unobstructed view of this part of downtown. It was a favorite place of mine to take out-of-towners to see the city.

Just about the only way you can tell that this is an old photo is that the old expressway, in the mid background, has not yet been torn down.

Roger