Ampelmann

There's a construction site near where I work that has been fenced off for more than a year. I really don't know what they are building.  (I could probably figure it out if I cared... but I don't... there is so much construction going on). 

Last month, they put up a billboard with figures of people walking with city names above the characters.  I thought this was fascinating, and would be fun to try to take pictures of real people walking next to the icon people. 

So, I waited and took some shots.  Most were misses, some were slightly amusing.  It's a tiny bit of timing and mostly luck.  I finally go this picture, which I thought was as good as it could get.  Perfectly centered and her foot position paralleled the figures. 

I posted the picture up on my Flickr account and someone said "Great Ampelmann moment".   I didn't quite know what that meant.  It seemed likely to me that Ampelmann was a famous photographer and the picture might have been in his/her style.  So, I looked him/her up on Wikipedia.  I learned that Ampelmann is not a photographer, but the name of the character figures which are shown in pedestrian crossing lights.  So, each of these figures represents the crossing walk figures that are depicted in each of those cities. 

With this bit of information, I went back to the wall and looked at it from different angles and took more shots.  Here are some other photos of the wall and the people. 

And finally, here is the actual New York Ampelmann up on the cross walk and the sign version, plus a real life ampelmann.