New York Portrait: Chapter I

Hutton's most impressive work demonstrates a filmmaker's style that takes on an assertive edge, marking his maturity. The landscape is presented with a majesty that reflects the meditative interiority of the artist, independent of any human presence. New York is depicted in the dark nights of a lonely winter. The pulse of street life plays no role in *New York Portrait*; the dense metropolitan population and imposing urban setting fade in favor of Hutton's focus on the primal force of a universal presence. With an eye for the ordinary, Hutton directs his camera toward the clouds, capturing flocks of birds, or turns back to the simple objects around his apartment, attempting to elicit a personal intuition from their presence. Hutton finds a harmonious, if at times melancholy, rapport with the natural elements, which retain their grace despite the city's artificial environment. The city becomes a ghost town that the filmmaker transforms into a vehicle reflecting his personal mood.